Mayor Tishaura O. Jones administration statement on planned protest Friday, May 3, 2024

On Wednesday, May 1, a peaceful protest took place on the campus of St. Louis University. No arrests were made by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. With the protest taking place on city streets, SLMPD was present to direct traffic to ensure the safety of protesters, pedestrians and drivers.

“I am proud of St. Louis City,” said Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. “Protesters took part in a peaceful protest Wednesday night, and Chief Tracy and the SLMPD kept our city safe. Peace was answered with peace.”

This wasn’t the first protest over the issue of the war between Israel and Hamas in the city of St. Louis, and likely won’t be the last. It remains Mayor Jones and the City of St. Louis’ top priority to ensure all community members are safe.

The government and SLMPD are aware of another protest planned for today, Friday, May 3, which will begin in Forest Park. As with the protest on Saturday, April 27, SLMPD will be present as long as protesters are within city limits. Protests taking place on the Washington University campus fall under the jurisdiction of the Washington University Police Department. Last Saturday, SLMPD was not involved in any arrests on campus.

We are hopeful that both the protesters and the university administration can emulate the precedent set by Wednesday evening’s protest. We believe that there are two essential factors that have helped ensure the safety of everyone in the community:

1. The community focused on the rejection of violence during their demonstration.
2. St. Louis University administration provided clarity to members of the SLU community about their expectations for the protest well in advance of the scheduled start time.

Our city and our region will continue to have difficult conversations about our community and its role in world events. It is our hope that we can continue to engage each other in respectful and productive dialogue.