A Democrat state lawmaker in Missouri was among seven arrested in St. Louis on Friday as part of an anti-Black Friday protest.
Missouri Democrat state Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. was arrested for partaking in the protest that shut down the St. Louis Galleria for about half an hour Friday afternoon, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Franks advertised the protest in a “call to action” on Twitter.
What a beautiful day to go shopping! Together pic.twitter.com/JUCEZEiFXP
— Bruce Franks Jr (@brucefranksjr) November 24, 2017
The protesters arrived at the shopping mall shortly after 2 p.m., chanting “shut it down,” and “these killer cops have got to go.”
"Who shut S#%! down…."#Stlprotests Galleria shut down pic.twitter.com/04LlDCX5tR
— Dr J A Salaam (@drjasalaam) November 24, 2017
Some stores were forced to pull down their security gates, trapping customers inside during the protest.
Local police advised the protesters to disburse by 2:25 p.m., or they would begin making arrests.
Franks was thrown to the floor and arrested after he tried questioning the officers when they began making arrests.
Missouri State Rep. @brucefranksjr arrested during #BlackFriday protest at Galleria. #STL #STLverdict pic.twitter.com/VXxJymNj1m
— Robert Cohen (@kodacohen) November 24, 2017
The protest was a part of a targeted boycott of national businesses with outlets in St. Louis launched in November by African-American clergy and activists.
“We pay taxes. … We spend our dollars in other communities, other venues, and we have not received an equitable return for those monies that we have invested,” said the Rev. Dinah Tatman, one of the boycott’s organizers. “We’re now taking our money and investing in ourselves.”
Franks has been in the news recently for participating in civil disobedience protests.
He was arrested in October for blocking a highway in protest of charges being dropped on the police officer involved in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith.
Prior to his election victory in November 2016, Franks was a rapper who bragged about shooting “snitches” and dismembering their dead bodies.
“I off them if they snitch, I put a shotty to their body, send them straight to the reverend! I put them in a body cast, put them in a body bag, tie them to the bag of the Chrysler then it’s body drag!” Franks said in a freestyle rap video.
“Don’t get added to my hit list, try to spit with a slit throat get left neckless,” he said in another. “They won’t recognize you until they find you and count your parts.”
Source: The Western Journal