Screenshots from a video of protests on Saturday, September 16.
In response to the Jason Stockley verdict, some protesters in St. Louis are taking a different approach.
"The format is changing," says protest organizer Meldon Moffitt, "from ‘No Justice, No Peace’ to ‘No Justice, No Profits’"—a refrain heard as protesters marched through area malls this weekend.
Moffitt is a member of a collective of activists who joined the protests immediately after the 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. During the past three years, the group has organized numerous demonstrations and found that one of the most effective ways to spur change is to impact businesses' bottom lines, he says.
Mall protests, concert cancellations, and "die-ins" in commercial districts are among protesters' economic-related tactics to convince government officials and business leaders to make changes.
“That makes them have to make a decision: 'Hey, let’s listen to these people and try to compromise,'" says another protest organizer, Tory Russell. “We want to keep the pressure on them.” Right now, Russell says activists are working towards a civilian oversight board with subpoena power and elected (rather than appointed) officials.
See also: Protesters request civilian oversight board with subpoena power
It’s an approach that Black Lives Matter protesters have used elsewhere in recent years. In 2015, Minnesota’s Mall of America sued Black Lives Matter to prevent a third protest in 13 months. That November, Black Friday sales were an estimated 25 to 50 percent below projected levels following demonstrations along the Magnificent Mile in Chicago.
And recent protests in St. Louis are having a negative impact on the economy here, though it's difficult to estimate to exactly what degree.
During demonstrations at Chesterfield Mall and West County Center on Saturday, some stores briefly closed for business. Asked about the economic impact, neither shopping center provided an estimate of lost revenues, though management at West County Center said its code of conduct does prohibit "activities such as demonstrating, parading, marching, etc."
Downtown, area businesses were impacted by the cancellations of the U2 and Ed Sheeran concerts over the weekend. Scottrade Center's marketing and public relationship specialist for the St. Louis Blues, Michael Caruso, wrote in an email, "It is fair to say the financial impact of canceling a sold-out concert was significant not only to the operation of the building, but to local businesses and the overall economy. In addition, the cancellation caused the loss of potential wages and tips to many hard-working waiters, waitresses and service staff at Scottrade and surrounding eating and drinking establishments." He added, "The effect of canceling Ed Sheeran will have a ripple effect that may not be fully known for some time." The Dome at America's Center did not provide estimated revenue figures.
Following event cancellations downtown over the weekend, potential customers “didn’t go to restaurants, didn’t go to hotels,” Missy Kelley, president and CEO of Downtown STL Inc., told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “That’s the short-term impact. Longer term, it’s a hit to our brand. It makes people think twice about coming.”
Lodging Hospitality Management's Steve O'Loughlin told the Post that 450 guests canceled reservations at LHM's Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark and St. Louis Union Station Hotel after the concerts were cancelled. Revenue was also down 50 percent at Three Sixty Rooftop Bar. That's not to mention potential convention-related business.
In Grand Center, the St. Louis Symphony canceled two sold-out Harry Potter concerts, though spokesperson Anthony Kiekow said it was too early to estimate the economic impact because the symphony plans to reschedule those concerts.
Smaller businesses have also been affected by the protests. On Monday night, for example, Delmar Hall canceled a Banks concert in anticipation of another protest in the Delmar Loop. (That protest later moved downtown, to the Justice Center.) Three Kings Pub also announced that it would be closing its Loop location six hours earlier than usual Monday night. One of the pub's windows was shattered by a trash can lid two days earlier, after the organized protest in the Loop had ended and a smaller group of protesters faced off with police and smashed windows.
Russell and Moffitt make an important distinction between the organized daytime protests and the vandalism that occurred at night over the weekend. “That’s something we were totally against," says Moffitt.
After seeing news of the vandalism along Delmar on Saturday night, HSB Tobacconist owner Jessica Bueler rushed to the neighborhood, where she and other area business owners tried to calculate the toll. “The amounts just add up so quickly,” she said. “We’re not multimillion dollar corporations. These are individually owned and operated stores." She's since launched a GoFundMe to help area businesses with the expense; at press time, it had raised around $5,000 toward its $50,000 goal.
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Courtesy of Jessica Bueler
Helpers gather at the Loop to repair damage committed by vandals after the peaceful protest on the Loop dispersed on Saturday night.
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Bueler says she's encouraged by those who've helped clean up and support effected businesses. She also believes the vandals were “an entirely different group of people” than those organizing peaceful protests.
"A lot of these business owners are minority business owners," she notes. "They provide jobs for a lot of minorities. And a lot of them believe in the same things that these protesters were protesting for.”
Update: This story was updated to include a response from Scottrade Center officials.
