ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Board of Aldermen president is asking for members of the community to come together and clean the city following overnight riots.
Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed is inviting everyone to come out and help sweep up glass from shattered storefronts, pick up debris and lend a helping hand to our city that’s in need, according to a press release from Reed's office.
“Nearly every area of our city was in the pathway of last night’s destruction. The people who caused this widespread damage were after anarchy and not justice. They were out there for themselves, hellbent on causing damage and destruction. We need to come together and show that we are one St. Louis,” said Reed.
Beginning at 9 a.m., Reed along with members of the community will begin cleaning up areas of the city that were damaged by looters and rioters. Participants are asked to wear gloves and bring brooms, if possible. All participants are also asked to wear a mask.
Reed will begin his clean up at the Shopping Center at Grand Boulevard and Cass Avenue. From there, the group will move to various areas throughout the city including downtown.
If your business or residence experienced property damage, contact President Reed’s office at 314-622-4114 for assistance.
Reed also set up a GoFundMe account to raise funds for small businesses.
Protests happened in the city until about 8 p.m. A small group of agitators began getting violent toward police. A 7-Eleven was burned, at least one police car was damaged, and fireworks were thrown at police.
The violence continued into early morning hours. Four St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers were shot. All four officers are expected to be OK.
A Family Dollar in the city was still burning as of 6:15 a.m.
The groups that caused violence and damage Monday night were considerably smaller than the large peaceful crowd that had gathered and marched through downtown Monday afternoon and early evening.
“This isn’t fun for anybody. It’s not gonna be fun for the downtown business association to wake up and see the chaos, the shattered glass everywhere, and everybody’s just counting their losses," St. Louis County Police Department spokesperson Ben Granda said.
