Demonstrators have unfurled a banner at a Major League baseball game in St. Louis, where they were protesting the acquittal of a white former police officer who was accused of murdering a black suspect.
The banner displayed Friday night over the upper-deck railing in the left-field had a Cardinals mascot drawn on it, and read ‘Racism Lives Here’ and ‘Stop Killing Us’. The mascot’s jersey read ‘#ExpectUs’.
Protesters unveiled the banner during the third inning and began chanting ‘No Justice. No Baseball’ and ‘You can’t stop the revolution’.
The incident comes two weeks after a judge acquitted white former officer Jason Stockley, 36, of first-degree murder in the 2011 shooting death of drug dealing suspect Anthony Lamar Smith, a 24-year-old black man, following a police chase.
Protesters unfurl a banner during a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium on Friday
Protesters unveiled the banner during the third inning and began chanting ‘No Justice. No Baseball’ and ‘You can’t stop the revolution’
The acquittal sparked days of protests that at times were violent, with demonstrators clashing with police and destroying property. Some 123 people were arrested and about a dozen police were injured during the unrest.
On Friday, the chanting in Bush Stadium was met with boos or indifference from fans on the final weekend of the regular season, according to video shot by the protesters.
After several minutes of chanting, the demonstrators were ushered out of the Busch Stadium, where the Cardinals lost to the Brewers 5-3.
‘We dropped the banner, we chanted, we held the space,’ one of the demonstrators, Shell Eik, said on a live video after leaving the stadium.
‘We got some people real uncomfortable, we pissed off some people, we got to drop a banner. Our voices got head, we disrupted,’ she observed.
The Brewers beat the Cardinals 5-3. Pictured: Brewers first baseman Eric Thames stretches to make the out against Cardinals runner Tommy Pham in the fourth
Protesters confronted a line of St. Louis police on bicycles as they barricaded Busch Stadium during a Cubs and Cardinals game earlier this week
Protesters were seen arguing with fans after the game outside of the stadium.
They then joined 200 other people in a march before the group was confronted by police in riot gear, who used a Taser on one and pepper spray on others, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported.
Police said they arrested at least two people at the protests near the stadium, after officers gave an order to clear an intersection and warned that those who failed to would be arrested.
The incident in St. Louis comes two weeks after campaigners inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement unfurled an anti-racism banner at a Boston Red Sox baseball game before security guards escorted them from the ballpark.
Protesters are seen outside Busch Stadium earlier this week. Protests have continued in St. Louis following the acquittal of a white police officer two weeks ago
The banner, hung over the famed Green Monster wall at the Major League team´s Fenway Park stadium, read ‘Racism is as American as baseball’.
Meanwhile, NFL players have been kneeling during the national anthem to draw attention to what they say is social and racial injustice.
The gesture sparked a national debate after President Donald Trump told a political rally a week ago that any protesting player was a ‘son of a bitch’ who should be fired, and urged a boycott of NFL games.
Trump’s statements drew amplified protests by dozens of players, coaches and some owners before last Sunday´s games.