Multiple concerts canceled after St. Louis protests cause safety concerns

Hundreds of demonstrators forced the closure Saturday afternoon of a mall in St. Louis.

The West County Center mall was closed when a group of demonstrators arrived to protest the acquittal Friday of former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley.

Demonstrators assembled at the mall briefly before heading out, with plans to reassemble in downtown St. Louis. Many stores closed and pulled metal security screens over their shop fronts.

Prior to the mall’s closure, about 300 people gathered in a suburban St. Louis park to discuss how they would continue to protest the acquittal of Stockley of first-degree murder in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith.

As they left Saturday’s meeting in Heman Park in the suburb of University City, protesters said they were heading to a mall, but they didn’t specify which.

Susanna Prins, a 27-year-old from University City, was carrying a sign that read “white silence is violence.” She said she was protesting because doing nothing makes someone complicit in the brutalization of others.

Simon Rodriguez, 33, of St. Louis, said he felt obligated to protest what he called an inappropriate and immoral verdict.

Sunday’s Ed Sheeran concert also canceled

The Ed Sheeran concert originally scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Scottrade Center in St. Louis has been canceled due to security concerns.

Messina Touring Group, which is handling Sheeran’s tour, released the following statement on Scottrade Center’s website:

“With the safety of the fans being of upmost concern, and after consulting with local officials, who could not fully commit to providing a sufficient amount of police and other city services support, we felt it was in everyone’s best interest to cancel Sunday night’s show. While we regret to have had to come to this decision, we do look forward to returning to St. Louis as soon as Ed’s schedule will allow in 2018.”

Orchestra cancels ‘Harry Potter’ performance

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has canceled its Saturday night performance of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets — In Concert.”

The event was scheduled for 7 p.m.

In a media release, the SLSO said it would work to reschedule the performance for later in the season and asked people to hold onto their tickets.

U2 concert called off

A U2 concert scheduled for Saturday night in St. Louis was canceled due to protests stemming from the acquittal of former police officer Jason Stockley.

The concert was planned to be held at the Dome at America’s Center. There were reports that the concert venue could become a target of protesters on Saturday night.

The band and the concert promoter, Live Nation, issued the following statement:

“Live Nation and U2 regrettably announce their St. Louis show scheduled for tonight, September 16, 2017 has been canceled.

“We have been informed by the St. Louis Police Department that they are not in a position to provide the standard protection for our audience as would be expected for an event of this size. We have also been informed that local crowd security personnel would not be at full capacity.

In light of this information, we cannot in good conscience risk our fans’ safety by proceeding with tonight’s concert. As much as we regret having to cancel, we feel it is the only acceptable course of action in the current environment,

Fans who purchased tickets online will receive a refund on the credit card tickets were ordered on. Refunds for non-internet purchases will be available starting Monday at 10am at point of purchase.”

This story was originally published September 16, 2017 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Multiple concerts canceled after St. Louis protests cause safety concerns."