Rockers U2 and pop singer Ed Sheeran have both cancelled concerts in St. Louis, slated for this weekend, after protests in the city turned violent.
U2’s lead singer Bono released a statement late Saturday, saying that although the band was scheduled — and willing — to play at St. Louis’s Dome Arena, they simply couldn’t allow their fans to risk life and limb to attend a rock concert.
“We cannot in good conscience risk our fans’ safety by proceeding with tonight’s concert,” the statement read. “As much as we regret having to cancel, we feel it is the only acceptable course of action in the current environment.”
Ed Sheeran, who was scheduled to play at the Scottrade Center Sunday night, has also cancelled his show, which has been sold out since March. Echoing U2, representatives for the popular singer said that they simply couldn’t provide enough security for fans. “We felt it was in everyone’s best interest to cancel Sunday night’s show,” the pop star’s management team said in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The city of St. Louis has been mostly on lockdown this weekend, following a series of demonstrations that erupted in violence Friday night, and continued through Saturday.
Thousands of marchers took to the street on Friday to protest a not guilty verdict in the trial of Officer Jason Stockley, a white St. Louis police officer who killed an unarmed black man. But as night fell Friday, the mostly peaceful march descended into chaos.
Around 40 people have been arrested so far, and at least nine officers have been injured in what is now an ongoing confrontation between protesters and law enforcement. Businesses in and around St. Louis were asked to shutter on Saturday, but that gave way to looting. Several restaurants and the St. Louis Public Library all suffered damage from looters.
St. Louis mayor Lyda Krewson had a terrifying experience when her St. Louis home came under siege by around a thousand protesters Friday night, marching on her lawn, pounding on her doors and windows, and sending the mayor and her family into hiding as police tried to subdue the mob. The mayor held a press conference late Saturday but did not comment on damage to her home.