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A throng of protesters took over a St. Louis mall on Black Friday, demanding justice for Mike Brown. Storefronts were temporarily closed as the protesters made their way through the mall. VPC
Protesters of the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown shooting chant slogans at Galleria mall on Wednesday in Richmond Heights, Mo.(Photo: J.B. Forbes, AP)
RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Mo.-- One of the St. Louis area's most popular shopping malls was closed for more than an hour on Black Friday when people protesting the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown case marched into the Galleria and lay down on the third floor.
More than 100 protesters marched through the busy mall, chanting "black lives matter" and "stop don't shoot" and urging shoppers to skip shopping to show solidarity with their cause. Protesters also had converged briefly on the mall Wednesday and left without incident.
Police were on hand Friday in expectation of the protesters. Shoppers were asked to leave after the protesters lay down.
"I thought they were very peaceful," said Sarah Jeffords-Haas, who walked around the protesters on the floor of the mall.
"This is no longer a protest, it's an uprising," said Kymone Freeman, who wore a plastic pig snout while he led the protesters through the mall.
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Shoppers and mall employees stopped to watch the protesters and some shops -- including Kids Foot Locker and Hallmark -- closed their security gates after the protest began around lunchtime.
Some mall workers cheered as the protesters walked by their shops. Two off-the-clock Macy's employees still in their smocks even briefly joined the marchers, enthusiastically chanting " no justice, no peace" before returning to the department store.
One of the Macy's employees said she didn't fear being reprimanded or losing her job.
"I don't care if they try to fire me," said Lisa Jones, who lives in Ferguson. "I got the right to speak."
Cbabi Bayoc, of St. Louis, brought his three children to take part in the demonstration.
"I brought my kids to show them what peaceful protest and engagement looks like," he said.
Protesters later descended on the Chesterfield Mall and West County Center, a mall in Des Peres, Mo.
DeRay McKessen, one activist that helped coordinate the protesters, said the mall operators briefly shut down the malls after they arrived to protest.
As one group of young protesters left the West County Center chanting, an older man who was shopping yelled at them to "Go home!"
One of the young protesters responded, "We are home!"
They then drove away.
Nationwide, at least 20 people were arrested after similar protesters disrupted shopping and public transit.
In Oakland, a "Black Lives Matter" protest snarled the San Francisco Bay Area Regional Transit system after about two dozen of the 100 demonstrators chained themselves to train cars at the West Oakland station.
The action shut down service between the East Bay and San Francisco for more than two hours, and delays persisted throughout the system all afternoon. Police made 14 arrests.
As rain fell in Seattle, more than 200 marchers chanting "hands up, don't shoot" or "black lives matter" blocked traffic and forced the closing of the downtown bus tunnel for about an hour, reducing King County Metro service, officials said.
One protester was arrested for kicking and damaging a police officer's bicycle.
Demonstrators swept into Westlake Mall, chaining the doors and shutting down the Metro station, before moving on to occupy the top floor of nearby Pacific Place.
In late afternoon, police reportedly were using pepper spray and percussion grenades to disperse demonstrator as they continued to march in the streets.
In Chicago, about 200 people gathered near the Magnificent Mile shopping district for what activists called "a day of awareness and engagement," including a push for more transparency from Chicago police.
Police arrested at least five people outside Macy's flagship store New York City after some of the 150 protesters blocked traffic. But across the Brooklyn Bridge, a "Hands Up, Don't Shop" protest fizzled when no one showed up.
Contributing: Michael Winter
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