During a Saturday performance by the St. Louis Symphony, Mike Brown demonstrators interrupted the show to sing a requiem for the teen as tensions grow over the police shooting of the unarmed 18-year-old.
As reported by the St. Louis American, about 50 people disrupted the St. Louis Symphony's performance of Brahms Requiem on Saturday night, singing "Justice for Mike Brown." The disruption came just after intermission.
"Justice for Mike Brown is Justice for us all/Which side are you on friend? Which side are you on," the mixed group sang.
The demonstrators sat as audience members sprinkled throughout the theater and in the balcony. They each rose up and joined in the singing. White banners with black spray-painted letters reading, " Requiem for Mike Brown 1996-2014" and "Racism lives here," with an arrow pointed to a picture of the St. Louis Arch were dropped from the balcony. Another banner reading "rise up and join the movement" was released.
After the singing the demonstrators began to chant "black lives matter." Then they all voluntarily marched out together and left the theater.
"It is my duty and desire to try to reach out and raise that awareness peacefully but also to disrupt the blind state of white St. Louis, particularly among the people who are secure in their blindness...This cannot be just a Ferguson issue," Sarah Griesbach, the organizer of the demonstration, said.
Another organizer, Elizabeth Vega, said the group's intent was to leave the audience with some food for thought.
"Many of us are artists ourselves, so we were very cognizant to not interrupt the performance after it had already began," Vega said. "But we still wanted it to be a disruption that left people with a seed of thought."
Check out footage from the demonstration below.
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