Weekend of St. Louis protests ends with anger, arrests and resolve

A four-day event of scheduled demonstrations came to a raucous close on Monday night, as protesters gathered outside the St. Louis Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers football game in downtown St. Louis, Missouri.

The protest was called in support of black teenager Michael Brown, who was shot and killed by white officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson on Aug. 9. The event and continued protests has sharply divided the region — and country — along racial lines.

Nowhere was this more apparent over the weekend than seeing the reactions of some white football fans who did not take kindly to the mostly black demonstration outside the Edward Jones Dome stadium.

Some football fans yelled “Get over it!” and “I am Darren Wilson!” as they aggressively confronted demonstrators. Several groups had to be pulled apart by police or friends.

Other Rams and 49ers fans joined in with the demonstrations or showed support for the movement by raising their fists as they passed.

Elsewhere, acts of civil disobedience marked the day, which organizers dubbed “Moral Monday” after the protests that are regularly held against the state government in North Carolina.

More than 50 protesters were arrested, including scholar and activist Cornel West, St. Louis rapper Tef Poe, and St. Louis University of Law professor Justin Hansford, who was recently interviewed by Fusion.

Demonstrators staged rallies at four different Wal-Marts to show solidarity with John Crawford, a black man who was shot and killed by police in an Ohio Wal-Mart while holding a toy gun and chatting on his cellphone. St. Louis City Hall was briefly shut down by demonstrators, as were several shopping malls and a political fundraiser.

As the protest winded down outside the football stadium late last night, organizer Tory Russell was visibly tired from the long weekend of demonstrations. He said it was probably his last event of the night, but the protests won’t end here.

“We’re tired, but we’re strong, and we already done did this for 66 days. How can we stop now?” he asked. “If we want to get justice, we’re gonna have to fight for it non-stop. Business can’t go on as usual when they’re killing people.”

All photos by Daniel Rivero for Fusion

Daniel Rivero is a producer/reporter for Fusion who focuses on police and justice issues. He also skateboards, does a bunch of arts related things on his off time, and likes Cuban coffee.