Black Friday: protests at Walmart stores and 'shutdown' in St Louis – as it happened
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Version 0 of 1. 6.23pm ET23:23 Summary We’re wrapping up our coverage of Black Friday for today. Here’s a summary of events today: 5.42pm ET22:42 "I was starving and they were snickering" - Walmart worker from California Here’s our final interview with a Walmart worker out protesting today - it’s pretty extraordinary. Martha Sellers, 57, of Bellflower, California, has been a cashier at a Paramount Walmart store for 11 years who has been at the Long Beach protest. Martha spoke to Lauren Gambino: Four years ago, after my husband’s passing, Walmart started cutting my hours so much so that I couldn’t afford to eat. Within that first year, I lost 60 pounds. I begged them for more hours. But they kept cutting everyone’s hours. I’d go in and ask them for more hours. When I’d leave I could hear them snickering. I can’t even tell you how that felt. I was starving and they were snickering. They didn’t care whether I ate or not. They just cared that I showed up to work and did my job. But I was so hungry that if I bent over and picked up a bit of trash on the floor i would have passed out.” All we want as workers is to be able to feed our families and pay our bills, and dignity and respect on the job. I don’t think that’s too much to ask for. I will stand up until this company does right by every associate from coast to coast. I know I’m risking it all, but I feel so much better standing up to this giant. Unfortunately we don’t have a photograph for Martha. 5.37pm ET22:37 A video recorded by comedian and activist Russell Brand a two days ago is doing the rounds again on social media today. It runs under the title: “How Can We Confront Walmart?”. 5.29pm ET22:29 Reporters on the ground in St Louis say that protests appear to winding down: #Ferguson protesters finished at West County Mall & marching along Manchester, they're getting in cars and leaving pic.twitter.com/rf3iBPepm0 5.23pm ET22:23 Reporter Rose Hackman was at the Galleria ‘die-in’ and shut down in St Louis, Missouri, which ended just a few hours ago. She sends this extensive eyewitness report, which provides a real insight into the scenes today and some of the forces at play. It’s well worth a read from top to bottom so I’ve posted it in full: A crowd of around 300 peaceful, mostly young protesters – almost perfectly divided between black and white - gathered inside St. Louis, Missouri’s Galleria Mall early afternoon on Black Friday to protest the shooting of teenager Michael Brown and ask shoppers to stop spending their money and go home. Theirs was a successful venture. Within one hour of kicking off marches through the packed-with-shoppers mall and staging a series of actions, including one where dozens of protestors lay down on the ground – recalling scenes after the shooting of Michael Brown this August when his body was left to lay in the street for over four hours – the entire shopping mall was shut down. “I am here today because I am sick and tired of the systemic racism that keeps on happening here in St. Louis County,” said protester Elizabeth English, a 23-year-old student from the wealthy St. Louis neighborhood of Central West End. But the crowd was far from local. Many of the protesters came from out of town to join in protests this week, following the news that police officer Darren Wilson had not been indicted and would not be tried for his shooting to death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Gerardo Benavides, a 24-year-old social worker from Baltimore was adamant of the significance of protesting on Black Friday – the biggest revenue-grossing day for retailers across America. “We as a society are so obsessed with massive consumerism that it takes away from the things that actually matter. Superficial, stress-fueled shopping stops people from focusing on the real issues” Benavides said. As protesters marched, the throngs of shoppers and customers stopped and watched on. Two black female Macy’s employees enthusiastically burst from the department store and joined in on the march, shouting “Fuck it, shut this shit down” to the wild cheers of encouragement from protesters, who in turn echoed their cries. Brittany Holden, 23, a Janie and Jack employee who had just been picked up from her shift by her fiancée Dominike Hinton, 23, said she vastly sympathetic to the protest. Hinton, a UPS employee, says he has taken part in some of protests since August, but has had to be careful. As a black man and with a young child to take care of, he says he has to be careful of police racial profiling and the consequences of negative stereotypes. He cannot risk being portrayed as someone looking for trouble. “I have to always remember to be submissive,” he said. But far from all onlookers were approving. And while protesters were evenly spread out across different races, reactions were not. Most white shoppers I spoke to were profoundly unsympathetic, while black shoppers tended to be supportive. Indeed, with this protest, activists may have directly reached a new audience. The Saint Louis Galleria mall is a large, upscale mall, where white and black customers rub shoulders. Jan Richards, a 59-year-old home health nurse and former Illinois State Police employee called the protest “ridiculous.” “Once the facts came out, I feel they have no protest,” she went on. “Does racial conflict occur? Yes. White against black, black against white. This has been going on across history. But I don’t feel this [protest] is necessary.” A few minutes later, as protests had gone upstairs and this reporter was interviewing activist Kynone Freeman, a 44-year-old co-founder of “We Act Radio” in town especially from Washington, DC, a white middle-aged shopper stormed down the elevators to confront him. “You guys are pathetic,” she screamed, moving closer. “Are you happy? Are you happy now?” She asked, referring to the mall being shut down and customers being asked to make their way towards the exit. As her male partner urged her back up the elevators, she gave a last scream, “you all have ruined our entire experience!” Behind them on the moving steps, two young black women – one with perfectly manicured dyed blue hair – put up theirs fists, doing the black power sign, in solidarity. 4.46pm ET21:46 A number of high profile US politicians have been sharing their support for the Walmart protestors over the day. These strong words from New York attorney general Eric Schniderman I'm proud to stand with workers gathering at @Walmart stores nationwide to demand a #FairWage: http://t.co/EkdVzf0818 #BlackFridayAction The message is simple and important: No one who works full-time should have to struggle to feed their families. #BlackFridayAction As we kick off #holiday shopping, please consider the injustice against workers helping you w/ purchases http://t.co/VrwvKpMuwE @NYDailyNews And this from independent senator for Vermont Bernie Sanders: The Walton family owns more wealth than the bottom 40% of Americans combined. pic.twitter.com/38yBmFB1hg 4.36pm ET21:36 Here’s a longer shot of the scenes at the West County mall in St Louis, Missouri: A line of police in front of the West County Mall. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/At3qa6I6XU Protestors are reportedly being threatened with arrest: The officers said that we have to be on the public sidewalk in 3 minutes or we are subject to arrest. #Ferguson Updated at 4.37pm ET 4.34pm ET21:34 Shifting back to St Louis, Missouri it seems that the Galleria mall has reopened and protestors have moved on to the West County mall where police are preventing their entrance: Police say they will arrest us. West County. #ferguson https://t.co/HAuBVQlI6O Police force us out. Crazy. West County. #ferguson https://t.co/IuzUHqbN8u 4.27pm ET21:27 Here’s the next in our series of interviews with Walmart workers protesting throughout the US today. Nancy Reynolds is a 67 year-old part time Merritt Island Walmart employee of Cape Canaveral, Florida. She told Lauren Gambino she’s protesting because... I’m doing this to stop the retaliation for when we speak up for things that are not right in the store, or for better wages or for more hours. I’m tired of them bullying everyone – and they do love to bully. They will switch your schedule, they will cut your hours, they will schedule you for hours you’re not supposed to be working. I’m not supposed to go 6 or 7 hours without food – I’m diabetic – but they continually schedule me for 5.5 or 6-hour shifts without giving me a break for meals. I’d like to see them give more hours to people and to reinstate benefits for part-time workers because that’s all they’re hiring for now. We’re tired of being made to feel like we’re not worth anything. We are worth a lot. Without us, Walmart wouldn’t be making the profits they’re making. Updated at 4.28pm ET 4.15pm ET21:15 And now protestors are reportedly being arrested at Macy’s New York: NYPD - another arrest NYC #ferguson protests https://t.co/oi0Ojzvsa1 Police warning protesters to clear door https://t.co/iGNRowPK5T Updated at 4.15pm ET 4.11pm ET21:11 14 protestors were arrested at the West Oakland Bart protest, according to reporters on the ground. 14 people arrested at the West Oakland BART station during a protest for interfering with the railway system and trespassing.#Ferguson #BREAKING arrests now being made W Oakland BART. pic.twitter.com/98uHpKhYoa 4.04pm ET21:04 Local reports suggest the West Oakland Bart station is now open again after it was shut down by protestors who chained themselves together earlier today. Reporters on the scene said a number of those involved were arrested. West Oakland BART station is now open after #Ferguson protests this morning shut it down. Meanwhile here is a live video of the ongoing Black Friday protests in New York: Updated at 4.05pm ET 3.54pm ET20:54 Guardian interviews with Walmart protestors across the US Lauren Gambino and I will be publishing a series of short interviews with Walmart protestors across the country throughout the rest of the day. Here’s our first, with full-time Walmart employee Shomari Lewis, 32, of Arlington, Texas, who has been on the Dallas protest. He told the Guardian why he was protesting today: It’s personally hard to take care of myself on a Walmart wage. I walk to work. That’s what you have to do working at Walmart because you can’t afford to have car and pay rent on a Walmart salary. And I’m tired of the constant bullying, the retaliation for standing up for your rights, the low wages. I don’t like the bullying and I think everybody deserves to be paid fair wages. To be underpaid and disrespected is not right and I’m not going to stand for it.” Lewis can be seen on the right of the picture at today’s protest: Updated at 4.06pm ET 3.38pm ET20:38 And in New York City Black Friday protestors are gathering in Lower Manhattan: Cops threatening to arrest anyone who goes into the street now at the NYC march. #BoycottBlackFriday 3.25pm ET20:25 It’s also been reported that Walmart protestors in Chicago were also arrested recently. The Chicago Black Friday protests appear to be one of the largest gatherings of the day: Walmart workers in Chicago get arrested on #BlackFriday for civil disobedience, obstructing traffic. pic.twitter.com/j0cpoAPuE8 #WalmartStrikers 3.12pm ET20:12 More photographs of the protest at West Oakland Bart station have just been posted, showing activists have chained themselves together on the platform: Dramatic photo from @jilltucker of #Ferguson protestors chained together & blocking platform at W. Oakland BART: pic.twitter.com/8GLQRCeylN Guardian reporter Rory Carroll has just filed this excellent piece of background reporting on Oakland’s recent history of protests and its “special kinship” with Ferguson: The Oakland protest seems to have been well organised. Dozens of activists at the West Oakland Bart station blocked the doors of a train, and at least one man chained himself to it. Others picketed the entrance to the station above, chanting, singing and handing out flyers. The station was closed and firefighters arrived to cut the chains so the protestors could be removed. Oakland, a venerable crucible of African American activism which bred the Black Panthers, has felt a special kinship with Ferguson because of Oscar Grant, a young black man shot dead on a train platform by a white transit police officer in 2009. Some of Grant’s relatives have travelled to Ferguson. Fruitvale Station, a feature film about the killing directed by Ryan Coogler, broke into the box office top 10 last year. Some of the protestors held signs saying “The War on Black people is gentrification”, linking the tech-driven surge in property prices and evictions in Oakland to police shootings. A spate of attacks on so-called Google buses, which shuttle tech workers to Silicon Valley, made headlines earlier this year. Reporters on the ground are saying that some of the activists have now been arrested: Protester whose neck was locked to BART train in cuffs #BartLockDown #BlackoutBlackFriday pic.twitter.com/tW8S9iLgE9 3.04pm ET20:04 We’ll step away from the from Galleria mall and West Oakland protests for a second, my colleague Jana Kasperkevic has this report on Walmart’s reaction to the estimated 1,600 protests staged by Walmart workers and their supporters around the US. Jana’s full report is available here. Below is an extract: Walmart seemed underwhelmed [by the protests]. Kory Lundberg, a Walmart spokesperson, downplayed Our Walmart’s numbers. “I don’t know any better than you do whether that is an accurate number or not,” Lundberg said when asked if protests in 2012 and 2013 had taken place at 1,000 and 1,500 stores, respectively. “But I will say that this union group does have a long history providing inaccurate numbers in an effort to appear more relevant.” Organizers of Our Walmart said the company’s comments were an affront to workers who participated in the strikes. “It’s a very hard decision for us to make, because we know that we do jeopardize ourselves with retaliation that we know we receive for doing this,” said Mary Pat Tifft, an Our Walmart founder. “I take it offensively that Walmart would downplay this in such a way.” 2.55pm ET19:55 It seems it wasn’t just shoppers joining in with the Galleria protest, but store attendants too: Two Macy workers walked off their jobs today at the galleria mall to support the michael brown movement #BrownFriday pic.twitter.com/JZ3TZ3iaKS Women who appear to be Macy's employees join chant, "No Black Friday!' @StLouisGalleria Pic- @pd_shutterspeed pic.twitter.com/cVwTUfEpTC 2.49pm ET19:49 Reporters at the Galleria mall are saying that mall is now officially closed. Security staff are apparently telling protestors to leave: Guard: "The mall is closed. You have to leave." pic.twitter.com/odtwj9K1KQ 2.36pm ET19:36 More observations from protestors on ground in the Galleria mall: To see white shoppers step over black bodies during the die in is INTENSE. Galleria. #Ferguson Stores closed down at galleria pic.twitter.com/PFoNlNF8eb 2.26pm ET19:26 Back to the Oakland protest at West Oakland Bart station, where reporters are now saying that protestors have shut the building down. Protest at west Oakland Bart has shut the station #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/bWtpjLUtEO Reminder: there’s live video of the shut down in a post below. 2.20pm ET19:20 Here’s some video of police arriving at the Galleria: Police gathering in the St Louis Galleria mall. https://t.co/0SAI2PIlkk Protestors say the mall is shutting down: Stores are closing. The mall is SHUTTING DOWN. Galleria. #ferguson https://t.co/9VJAfAOkW5 2.16pm ET19:16 Reporters on the scene at the Galleria mall in St Louis are saying that the police have now arrived: A large group of police wearing vests are now at the Galleria. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/y5vFeXeyUU 2.14pm ET19:14 More video coming in the from the attempted shut down of the Galleria mall in St Louis. Look at all of the protestors. THE MOVEMENT LIVES. #ferguson https://t.co/MiIZ9QjELa It seems to be gathering momentum as shoppers drop their purchases and join in: Just talked to a woman who was shopping at the mall, saw the protest, & decided to return her stuff and march w/ the protesters #Ferguson 2.04pm ET19:04 Activists in Oakland are also trying to shutdown the West Oakland Bart station. There’s a live video viewable below: 1.58pm ET18:58 Some more video and pics from the attempted shut down of the Galleria mall in St Louis: Black lives matter. Y'all, this is great. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/N1FOZxaJdz Not. One. Dime. #ferguson https://t.co/xtwbD4MrM3 1.52pm ET18:52 Galleria Mall shut down in St Louis Protesters in St Louis are attempting to shutdown the Galleria Mall with a so-called “die in”. Here are some tweets and images from the scene: Die In at the Galleria. Stop killing us. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/15KPn1aT98 Shoppers walk through the protestors. #ferguson https://t.co/lZIXJ4aaqi Black lives matter. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/G9kURsOMrs Santa is shut DOWN. #ferguson https://t.co/FjalSMOjUy 1.31pm ET18:31 Here are some more images from Walmart protests around the country, recently posted to Twitter: In Minnesota: Minnesota #WalmartStrikers are on the move! @ForRespect pic.twitter.com/4Jy0HVyCmn In Miami: Shout out to the @fightfor15 folks in Miami for coming out and supporting #WalmartStrikers. #peoplepower pic.twitter.com/E18i1m8ndH In Richmond, California: "No climate justice without worker justice."#walmartstrikers Richmond,CA pic.twitter.com/PEIG0VFXDO 1.10pm ET18:10 Guardian US columnist Jeb Lund posted a thought provoking (and somewhat bleak) column yesterday, reflecting on his time before college working in retail stores on Black Friday. The full piece is available here. I’ve posted a few choice extracts below: One year my store got what seemed like a shipping container of boxes of women’s sleeveless white poplin shirts to sell for $19.99. We neatly fanned them out in a circle on a round display table that Friday morning, just before opening. (The stores open on Thanksgiving now.) The table of shirts was so totally plundered by shoppers so quickly that I started bringing out boxes and just razoring them open right there on the table, letting people rifle through the shirts as they appeared shipped to us – plastic clothespins on them, sticky size labels, inside a plastic bag marked THIS BAG IS NOT A TOY. (You know, in case you wanted to stand in the middle of the sales floor and stick one over your head during orgasm or maybe play “Baby Space Helmet” with it.) Eventually, I realized I could make people tear the box apart in frenzy if I waited until only a few shirts remained on the table, then came out with a box and said, “Looks like this is the last one in the back!” Nobody stayed in the store for more than an hour, so I repeated this nearly hourly until closing. ....... Black Friday is at once a diversion and an inevitable force with which we must reckon our compliance, on the way through an obligatory slog invested with meaningless irritation. Those compelled to be at a factory outlet store hustling chinos, or even at Walmart, have to find excuses for feeling miserable. Everyone else there is there because it’s their job. 12.49pm ET17:49 Here’s a reminder of what Walmart workers are calling for today, courtesy of OUR Walmart, the campaign group coordinating the Black Friday protests. They call upon the Walmart and the Walton family, the company’s largest shareholders, to commit to the following demands: 12.14pm ET17:14 My colleague Jana Kasperkevic was down at a Walmart in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania earlier today. She sent this report, which describes a subdued scene despite planned protests for 8:45 in the morning At the Walmart in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania a protest was listed for 8:45 am. It’s a five-minute drive from my parents’ home, where I spent Thanksgiving, so I pulled into the parking lot at about 9, hoping to see the protest underway. What I saw next was baffling. Not only were there no protesters anywhere, but the parking lot itself was less than half full, showing very few customers. Usually, you would be lucky to find a spot anywhere in the first section of the lot, close to the store. Even if there were a protest, it would have had no audience. As I strolled through the sprawling supercenter, I noticed that the shelves were well stocked. Staff seemed to outnumber customers: at all times, at least one Walmart worker within shouting distance. Shoppers, however, were few. I have never had such a quick checkout at Walmart. As I walked out, the only noise in front of Walmart was the person ringing a bell asking for donations for Salvation Army. 11.53am ET16:53 Here are some images from Walmart protests around the US that have recently been posted on Twitter under #walmartstrikers From Chicago: #walmartstrikers in Chicago standing up #forrespect pic.twitter.com/QRYpPCizUC From Cedar Rapids, Iowa: #WalmartStrikers #BlackFriday Workers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in solidarity with Walmart workers. #1u pic.twitter.com/tDqAnTyKSP From Washington DC: .@johnzangas: #WalmartStrikers nearing #Walmart in NW Wash DC. #BlackFriday protests are in support of #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/rzzvSjFTQ2 From Vista, California: #walmartstrikers in Vista Ca! #union #BlackFriday pic.twitter.com/eIvVYJpNWG 11.43am ET16:43 Back to retail focused news again, and Reuters has just posted this interesting news story showing that as retailers open their doors on Thanksgiving these days, crowds for Black Friday are not what they once were. Thanksgiving Day online sales rose 14.3% year-on-year according to analysts. The full article is here. Mall crowds were relatively thin early on Black Friday in a sign of what has become the new normal in U.S. holiday shopping: the mad rush is happening the night of Thanksgiving and more consumers are picking up deals online. Most major retailers now open their doors Thursday evening and offer extended holiday deals rather than limiting them to one day. The result is a quieter experience on what has traditionally been the busiest, and sometimes most chaotic, shopping day of the year. “It just looks like any other weekend,” said Angela Olivera, a 32-year old housewife shopping for children’s clothing at the Westfarms Mall near Hartford, Connecticut. “The kind of crowds we usually see are missing and this is one of the biggest malls here. I think people are just not spending a lot.” The crowds normally reserved for Black Friday morning appeared Thursday night. Over 15,000 people lined up for the opening of the flagship store of Macy’s Inc (M.N) in New York on Thursday, Chief Executive Officer Terry Lundgren told CNN. Police responded to a handful of incidents at Wal-Mart Stores(WMT.N) on Thursday, including to break up a fight over a Barbie doll in Los Angeles, CNN said. Target Corp (TGT.N) CEO Brian Cornell told Reuters he was encouraged by early indicators for a holiday season that “has moved from an event on Black Friday morning to a multi-day event.” “The consumer clearly enjoys shopping on Thanksgiving,” Cornell said, noting the retailer was selling 1,800 televisions per minute nationwide between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. last night. Wal-Mart said Thursday was its second-highest online sales day ever after last year’s Cyber Monday, which is the Monday following Thanksgiving when online retailers promote bargains. Cornell said Target rang up a record day of online sales on Thursday. Overall Thanksgiving Day online sales rose 14.3 percent from a year earlier, according to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark. The National Retail Federation is projecting that sales for November and December will rise 4.1 percent to $616.9 billion, which would mark the most bountiful holiday season in three years. Holiday sales grew 3.1 percent in 2013. It was unclear what impact a movement to boycott Black Friday in protest of a grand jury’s decision not to indict the police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager in Missouri might have on the holiday season. The movement has gained some momentum on Twitter and Facebook. OUR Walmart, a group of Wal-Mart employees pushing for higher wages and benefits, is also hoping to use Black Friday to spread its message with protests planned at 1,600 stores across the country. Updated at 11.43am ET 11.29am ET16:29 This image from a Walmart protest in Cleveland, Ohio captures an interesting moment of Ferguson solidarity protestors teaming with local Walmart protestors: #Ferguson protestors+Walmart worker supporters join forces in #Cleveland #blacklivesmatter #walmartstrikers pic.twitter.com/RERigOwDfZ 11.21am ET16:21 Some retail news now and Associated Press report that the website of electronics retail giant BestBuy.com crashed at 10 am ET. It hasn’t reopened yet. It’s an anecdotal indicator of just how busy it is for of online shopping today. ugh @BestBuy site has crashed. messing me up yo. pic.twitter.com/HSsNGtvLPo 11.12am ET16:12 Here is some video and images from the Black Friday protests in the St Louis area last night and early this morning: Spoke too soon. #BlackOutFriday https://t.co/eKd0YIIpf4 #HandsUpDontShop Protest at Walmart St Charles #FergusonAction #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/4voL0e4dly 4th #Ferguson pop-up #ShutItDown #BlackFriday protest at #Walmart: http://t.co/pSiV0b9h67 cc @deray @Nettaaaaaaaa 10.59am ET15:59 My colleague Lauren Gambino has just filed this report on the snap protests in Ferguson overnight. You can read her full report here. Below is an extract: As millions of American shoppers headed to stores in search of post-Thanksgiving bargains, scores of demonstrators interrupted Black Friday shopping in St Louis as part of a retail boycott over the death of the unarmed teen Michael Brown. The boycott, which used the hashtag #BlackOutBlackFriday on Twitter, was the latest strategy by protesters to draw attention to issues snapped into focus by Brown’s death: racism, economic inequality and police brutality in America. Monday’s grand jury decision not to indict white policeman Darren Wilson for killing Brown on 9 August led to days of violent protests in a number of American cities. Beginning on Thanksgiving night, dozens of activists turned up at major retailers around the St Louis area with protest signs. They chanted “Hands up, don’t shoot!” as shoppers whizzed past in search of heavily-discounted TVs and vacuums. The demonstrations, staged at an area Target and multiple Walmart stores, were brief and peaceful. As of mid-morning, there had been no reports of arrests related to the protests. In at least one instance, protesters were ordered by police to leave, and they did so peacefully, Reuters reported. More protests were expected throughout the day on Friday. 10.51am ET15:51 Summary Welcome to our live coverage of Black Friday, the start of the holiday shopping season and the biggest shopping day of the year. |