ST. LOUIS — Thousands of people gathered in downtown St. Louis Sunday for a Pride parade.
The Grand Pride Parade stepped off at noon, heading westbound on Market Street.
The parade was delayed after protesters entered the parade route with a message supporting Palestine and denouncing genocide. About a dozen protesters sat on Market Street.
The protesters were asking Pride STL to not accept funding from Boeing. Boeing was the title sponsor of the parade. Reporting from the New York Times and others links Boeing to bombs used by Israel in Palestine.
Police responded but followed Pride STL's guidance on how to handle the protest. Pride STL asked the protesters to leave the route and asked police to remove the protesters.
Protesters repeatedly shouted, “Free, free, free Palestine” while paradegoers shouted, “We want a parade, we want a parade.”
At 1:09 p.m. police gave protesters a final order to leave the street, then started arresting protesters. In total, 19 people were taken into custody, police said. The St. Louis Fire Department responded to separate the protesters who had connected themselves with chains and metal pipes.
Director of Diversity and Inclusion for Pride STL Jordan Braxton said "We still had a great parade and festival. We had record numbers of people attending both of our events. … Easily more than 360,000 people attended both of our events, and about 30,000 people showed up for the Pride STL Parade to support love, life, and community."
National Lawyers Guild members were taking names of those arrested. The guild records police conduct, works with the Bail Project and observes the arrests.
The parade restarted at 1:38 p.m.
Police said no one was injured in the incident.
Paradegoers who spoke with 5 On Your Side had mixed feelings about the display.
“They want their 15 seconds of fame. We didn’t do anything. This protest just makes us all mad. They’re trying to stop a day that supposed to be about love, life and community,” said Allison Stewart, one of many paradegoers clearly upset by the protest.
The Grand Pride Parade is a part of PrideFest, an annual St. Louis event during Pride Month. PrideFest includes a festival between 15th and Tucker Streets, Pine to Market streets. The theme of the parade was "Unleash Your Pride."
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