Hundreds took to the streets in the Shaw and Tower Grove neighborhoods on Monday, November 24, as they marched down both lanes on South Grand Boulevard and even shut down Interstate 44 for more than 30 minutes.
Chanting, “This is what democracy looks like,” the mostly young crowd expressed both rage and sorrow over the grand jury’s non-indictment decision in the Officer Darren Wilson case.
At about 10:30 p.m., the crowd swelled even more, as protestors who escaped the tear gas in Ferguson arrived to join the Shaw action. The area has become a second home to the Ferguson protest movement, after the shooting death of VonDerrit Myers Jr. on Oct. 8. Like Michael Brown Jr., Myers was 18 when he was shot and killed by an off-duty St. Louis police officer.
Grace Kenyon, a frontline protestor since August, said she arrived late to the Ferguson action but quickly turned around.
“We were parking at the Family Dollar when we saw a bunch of people running from tear gas,” she said. “And then windows started breaking while police are teargassing protestors a few blocks away. Police were nowhere in sight when people were actually committing crimes and breaking the law.”
Kenyon held up a sign that said, “Black skin is not a weapon.”
“I’m here because black lives matter,” she said, “and people don’t think that.”
At about 11 p.m., the marchers arrived at the intersection of Arsenal Street and Grand, where the South Grand business district begins. Leaders stopped the march because several individuals had run ahead of the group and started breaking windows of businesses, including at the FedEx Kinkos.
Elizabeth Vega, a leader with the Artivists group, said she believes the offenders were agitators, who were wearing masks and were white. During the march, they were encouraging the younger kids to pick up rocks. Vega said she pulled her whistle out and told the kids to put them down. That’s when the agitator pushed her.
She said she understands their anger and sentiment of, “They’re killing us, and this is just property.”
“But this is just an excuse for police to start shooting rubber bullets and real bullets if this happens,” she said. “We’re just trying to keep the peace as best we can in the midst of real frustration and sorrow.”
A moving truck joined the protestors at the intersection, and several young black men jumped on top, wearing “In Peace Solidarity” T-shirts. Below them a car blasted Lil Boosie’s “F—k the police,” while young men and women danced.
By 11:30 p.m., tensions were growing, and several protestors started walking back down Grand toward the highway. That’s when police deployed smoke bombs. While not as harmful as tear gas, the smoke still agitated people’s eyes and throats. When people refused to leave the intersection, police in riot gear formed a line in the street.
St. Louis police arrested 21 adults after the grand jury announcement, according to the city police’s summary of incidents released Tuesday morning. Three were arrested on Interstate 44 for failing to disperse, and three more were arrested at Arsenal and Grand for the same charge.
Five people got felony charges for property damage in the South Grand business district. Two people, who carried gas masks, were arrested for stealing a car and possessing handguns. Four people were arrested for burglary in the second degree at the corner of Grand and Arsenal.
From restaurants to the U.S. Post Office, 21 windows were smashed on South Grand Avenue, basically hitting almost every business in the South Grand business district. Six additional windows were smashed throughout the city, including Bank of America at Grand and Gravois Avenue.
At about midnight, one woman confronted a group of young people who were damaging the door of a popular neighborhood store, Jay’s International Food, on Grand Avenue. They told her they were going to follow her home, said the woman, who did not want to be identified.
“It’s a really sad time,” she said, standing on the corner near Jay’s in a shawl. “And now I’m scared to go home.”