This week protesters in St. Louis shut down a convenience store/gas station after a video emerged of the store’s owner and another employee attacking a Black woman.
Tuesday morning, Shemika Russell recorded a male employee of Gas Mart confronting a woman outside the store. As the woman and the man argued, another man, reportedly the owner of the gas station, came outside and kicked the woman to the ground.
After the owner goes back into the store, the first man kicked the woman again. Russell was so shaken up by witnessing the incident, she chose to share it on Facebook. A few hours later, the clip had gone viral and was shared all over social media.
That’s when the protest group Expect Us wrote on Facebook, “We are calling for accountability. He had no right to kick her!!”
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And according to Fox 2, by 4pm that afternoon, local protesters from the neighborhood gathered at the store, blocked access to the gas pumps and prevented employees from leaving until police arrived.
A Gas Mart employee confirmed that police took two men into custody, one of whom was the gas station’s owner. There were approximated 50 protesters in attendance and they confirmed that Kelli Adams, the woman who was attacked, did receive medical attention.
“One of the workers, an Arab gentleman, kicked her in the stomach like she was a dog,” said a protester and local resident named Jermaine. “So, we’re here to shut it down. No more business for these people. They’re going to understand that we feed them. That they live off our community.”
There were multiple St. Louis Metropolitan Police officers at the scene, but it was a peaceful protest so there were no arrests made. Officials say the incident is still under investigation.
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