2
RIVERFRONT TIMES
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
riverfronttimes.com
THE LEDE
3
PHOTO BY THEO WELLING “It’s hard to be there for ourselves, because we are so dedicated, especially veteran activists who have been showing up since 2014. We’re so dedicated to the movement and dedicated in the community and being there for each other that it is easy to get caught up in the movement, and get caught up in different actions, and kind of forget to be there for yourself. ... It’s so important to take breaks. It’s so important to rest. ... You can’t pour from an empty cup.”
— TIANA BOJORQUEZ, ARTIST AND ACTIVIST, AT THE SUNFLOWER FIELDS AT COLUMBIA BOTTOM CONSERVATION AREA ON AUGUST 2 riverfronttimes.com
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
RIVERFRONT TIMES
3
BLM in Rural Missouri
A
fear of the outsider is one of those tropes that has not lost any power with age. As protests over George Floyd’s killing ramped up in cities across the country, online grifters and far-right trolls turned to it as a familiar tool. In viral Facebook memes, protesters were depicted as violent thugs — and they were preparing to leave the cities and storm rural and suburban America. So when people in Fredericktown, about 90 minutes south of St. Louis, learned of a planned protest in support of Black Lives Matter, an armed contingent responded, ready for battle. But as Daniel Hill reports, they weren’t met by violent hordes of outside agitators, but their own justice-minded neighbors. Daniel’s story digs into the often unseen but intimate way the latest rise of activism is playing out in outstate.
— Doyle Murphy, editor in chief
TABLE OF CONTENTS CAN’T
STO P
WO N’T
STO P
E DITIO N
Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Doyle Murphy
E D I T O R I A L Digital Editor Jaime Lees Hero In A Hot Dog Suit Daniel Hill Contributors Trenton Almgren-Davis, Cheryl Baehr, Eric Berger, Jeannette Cooperman, Thomas Crone, Mike Fitzgerald, Judy Lucas, Noah MacMillan, Andy Paulissen, Justin Poole, Christian Schaeffer, Chris Ward, Theo Welling, Danny Wicentowski, Nyara Williams, Ymani Wince Columnist Ray Hartmann A R T
& P R O D U C T I O N Art Director Evan Sult Editorial Layout Haimanti Germain Production Manager Haimanti Germain M U L T I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Advertising Director Colin Bell Senior Account Executive Cathleen Criswell Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Jackie Mundy
COVER
C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers
Small Town Justice
E U C L I D M E D I A G R O U P Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services Stacy Volhein www.euclidmediagroup.com
Rural Missourians protested in support of Black lives — and were met by their armed neighbors
N A T I O N A L A D V E R T I S I N G VMG Advertising 1-888-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com
Cover photograph by
S U B S C R I P T I O N S Send address changes to Riverfront Times, 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $78/6 months (MO add $4.74 sales tax) and $156/year (MO add $9.48 sales tax) for first class. Allow 6-10 days for standard delivery. www.riverfronttimes.com
ADAM HAMLIN
The Riverfront Times is published weekly by Euclid Media Group | Verified Audit Member Riverfront Times 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103 www.riverfronttimes.com
INSIDE The Lede Hartmann News Feature Short Orders Culture Savage Love
General information: 314-754-5966 Founded by Ray Hartmann in 1977
5 7 8 12 15 19 21
Riverfront Times is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies of the current issue may be purchased for $1.00 plus postage, payable in advance at the Riverfront Times office. Riverfront Times may be distributed only by Riverfront Times authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of Riverfront Times, take more than one copy of each Riverfront Times weekly issue. The entire contents of Riverfront Times are copyright 2020 by Riverfront Times, LLC. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the expressed written permission of the Publisher, Riverfront Times, 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103. Please call the Riverfront Times office for back-issue information, 314-754-5966.
CORRECTION: Last week’s feature story, “Survival Dance,” should have credited photos of the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities to photographer Konjit Avent. We regret the error.
4
RIVERFRONT TIMES
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
riverfronttimes.com
HARTMANN Parson’s Childish Proposal The governor’s approach to juvenile crime serves his election campaign, not safety BY RAY HARTMANN
I
f two twelve-year-olds stood on their front lawn and pointed weapons at passing demonstrators, they would automatically face a hearing to determine if they should be prosecuted as adults, if charged, under legislation proposed by Missouri Governor Mike Parson. No kidding. In the special session he has called on crime, Par-
son proposed toughening state laws on juvenile offenders that would, among other things, require that middle-schoolers who wave guns around like Mark and Patricia McCloskey face mandatory hearings over whether they should be prosecuted as adults. On the bright side, this might not happen often: Most middleschoolers behave better than the McCloskeys did when they infamously trained their firearms at peaceful protesters near their Central West End mansion on June 28. They made fools out of us in St. Louis, globally. In that case, Parson also made a fool of himself by publicly offering the McCloskeys a pardon before they were even charged with a crime. That was so weird that no one got around to discussing whether it was even legal, which it shouldn’t be. Ultimately, the McCloskeys were charged with unlawful use of a weapon, or UUW, and the governor went silent. But with appar-
ently no sense of irony, Parson has now stepped forward to crack down on UUW for kids twelve to seventeen. Priceless. It was a little-known fact — to most of us — that state law already makes it mandatory for courts to hold hearings on whether to prosecute children as adults for many serious offenses. These include murder, rape, sodomy, drug sales and robbery. Missouri is not soft on juvenile crime. In the case of some lower-level felonies, such as UUW, the law allows for juveniles from twelve to seventeen to be certified for prosecution as adults, but it doesn’t require it. Parson, eager to feed red meat to the base in an election year, would pretend to tie the hands of judges even in some of these more minor cases, even though it would merely require the holding of a hearing, not the intended result. UUW would trigger a mandatory certification proceeding. Bringing a gun into a library, a misdemean-
riverfronttimes.com
5
or, would do the same. It couldn’t be more absurd, especially since the same judges already possess the discretion to proceed with what Parson wants to make mandatory. Conversely, if they don’t wish to do so, it’s not happening even if the governor gets his nonsense written into law. Juvenile judges are more likely to act with reason than politicians when considering the case of a real-life kid whose life hangs in the balance. They’re looking the troubled young person in the eye. Politicians aren’t. The juvenile court system is unlikely to embrace Parson’s rhetoric. It’s no accident that the number of children getting tried as adults has actually declined in Missouri, with only 42 kids prosecuted as adults in 2018. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, among others, is not impressed with Parson’s show. “There is no place for a twelve-
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
Continued on pg 6
RIVERFRONT TIMES
5
HARTMANN
Continued from pg 5
year-old in adult court,” Bell tells me. “We know that even eighteenyear-olds have underdeveloped brains and a different level of culpability than adults. Twelve-yearolds are in sixth or seventh grade. What we should do for that child is nurture them and help them. “What we should not do is throw them in adult jail or prison or saddle them with an adult record that will follow them for the rest of their lives,” Bell says. “If the governor wants to make this state less safe down the road, this bill is a way to do it.” There is, however, an unexpected silver lining to Parson’s cloud. Try as he might to play the irrational tough guy in his made-forTV-ad agenda, the governor likely would be thwarted by his own government. It might come as a stunner to you that Missouri’s treatment of juvenile offenders is so good that it’s called the “Missouri model” by other states emulating it. cials in this customarily backward state actually seem focused on finding long term solutions rather than extracting short-term vengeance on kids gone astray. One such front-line worker is Sarah Johnson, director of juvenile defense and policy and head of the children’s defense team in the state public defender s o ce. Rather shockingly, Johnson says Missouri shines for its compassionate and effective approach to juvenile corrections. “Missouri has for so long been lauded nationally for its juvenile program that it’s known as the Missouri model,” Johnson says. “Our Division of Youth Services has developed a program through which the system for juveniles consists of several small cottages across the state, rather than putting them in cells. “It’s more of a dorm setting, not confinement ith bars here the kids receive accredited schooling, do gardening, play sports and are helped by mentoring programs,” Johnson says. “They also participate in peer programs, where they learn to rely upon each other. It’s a really good program.” Johnson says Missouri’s system provides for “dual jurisdiction,” wherein even if a juvenile has been convicted as an adult, they still might serve their incarceration in the juvenile system. Hopefully, the Republicans’ next bright idea won’t be to change that.
6
RIVERFRONT TIMES
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
riverfronttimes.com
Johnson notes that studies show conclusively that kids in adult jails are victimized by rapes and other assaults in disproportionate numbers and have little chance of emerging from custody with a crime-free life ahead of them. Sometimes their best case is sightand-sound separation that’s tantamount to solitary confinement — not a great plan. We probably didn’t need a study to establish any of that. Johnson’s perspective is up-close and personal. “So many of the kids we see have been traumatized in their own homes and communities,” Johnson says. “Many of them, since a very young age, have witnessed gun violence on a very regular basis, seeing family members, friends and neighbors shot and often killed. “Through the Missouri model, they can get uvenile specific services, such as trauma services, counseling and therapy and education,” Johnson says. “In the juvenile system, if they’re given a second chance, if they’re given hope, social science tells us that they can grow out of these behaviors and go on to live better lives. But if we certify kids as adults, that hope piece is gone.” ohnson says she no s firsthand how serious the crime problem is, and she says it’s a myth that juveniles automatically receive a free pass for their prior crimes once they hit seventeen or eighteen or 21. She says that serious crimes might be removed from public view, but they are not expunged and can remain relevant in the case of a juvenile offender who continues to commit crimes as an adult. “Everyone knows we need to be serious about solving violent crime,” Johnson says. “But incarcerating children is not the answer.” Talk like that isn’t going to win any votes this November. Parson, on the other hand, is likely to reap political benefits in direct relation to his public toughness on faceless juvenile offenders. Johnson calls the governor’s effort “a step in the wrong direction,” but she does have one thing in common with Parson: Both are all about outcomes. It’s just a question of whose. n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977. Contact him at rhartmann@sbcglobal.net or catch him on St. Louis In the Know With Ray Hartmann and Jay Kanzler from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday thru Friday on KTRS (550 AM).
NEWS Bell Won’t Prosecute Darren Wilson Written by
DOYLE MURPHY
S
t. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell is not going to prosecute ex-Ferguson police o cer arren ilson for illing ichael Bro n. Bell announced his decision last ee saying a rene ed investigation didn t e onerate the former cop but there asn t enough evidence to pursue criminal charges. ilson fatally shot the eighteen year old Bro n on ug. after a confrontation on the street. he illing spar ed months of protests leading to the rise of the Blac ives atter movement. lthough this case represents one of the most significant moments in t. ouis history the uestion for this o ce as a simple one ould e prove beyond a reasonable doubt that hen arren ilson shot ichael Bro n he committed murder or manslaughter under issouri la Bell said at a ne s conference. fter an independent and in depth revie of the evidence e cannot prove that he did. Bell has faced uestions about hether he ould reopen the case since before he too o ce. t least in part his election as a reform minded prosecutor as a long a aited rebu e to his predecessor Bob c ulloch ho oversa the original case. n a controversial ne s conference in c ulloch announced the grand ury s decision not to indict ilson detailing much of the evidence prosecutors included during the in uiry. hysical evidence does not change because of public pressure or personal agenda culloch said at the time. hysical evidence does not loo a ay as events unfold or bloc out or add to memory. hysical evidence remains constant and as such it s a
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley kept the re-investigation quiet. | DOYLE MURPHY solid foundation on hich cases are built. is role in the case ould dog him the rest of his career and ultimately cost him his ob. ctivists ho accused c ulloch of tan ing the case came out hard against him during his reelection campaign and helped boost Bell to victory in . But Bell had mostly stayed uiet about hether he planned to reopen the case. ast hursday his o ce sent out a media alert revealing not only that prosecutors had finished a rene ed investigation but that Bell ould announce a decision at that day s conference. e gave St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist ony essenger the ne s first n the end e cannot ethically bring this case to trial Bell told essenger. ur investigation does not e onerate arren ilson. uring the ne s conference
Triple Homicide in North St. Louis, No Arrests Yet Written by
DOYLE MURPHY
T
hree people were killed and two wounded in a midday shooting last week in north St. Louis, police
say. Officers responded at 1:41 p.m. on July 29 to an emergency call in the Wal-
Michael Brown was shot to death nearly six years ago in Ferguson. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI Bell told reporters the re investigation lasted about five months and concluded about t o ee s ago. embers of a conviction integrity unit in his o ce intentionally ept their or secret even from other county prosecutors to avoid being in uenced by anyone Bell added. e said it as a tough decision not to prosecute ilson nut Park West neighborhood. The original call was for a shooting near West Florissant Avenue and Goodfellow Boulevard, according to police. Officers found the victims about four blocks to the south, in the 5500 block of Floy Avenue. Two eighteen-year-olds — Elijah McKinney of downtown St. Louis and Daijon Nearing of Florissant — had been shot to death, along with Malik Taylor, 22, of Moline Acres. A 37-year-old man and seventeen-year-old boy were wounded. Both had been shot in the legs, police say. They were taken to the hospital. Citing authorities, the St. Louis PostDispatch reported that there had been a
riverfronttimes.com
7
but e ust could not get there ith the evidence e had. e said prosecutors delivered the ne s to Bro n s family in person. e could not give the family hat they anted but e did eep our obligation to this community he said. he epartment of ustice had reached a similar conclusion in about the evidence against ilson. Bell s decision as li ely the end for Bro n s family s and supporters hope for ilson to be prosecuted for the illing. ctivists ho helped lift Bell to victory over c ulloch ere critical of the prosecutor s decision. he decision not to bring charges against ilson perpetuates a criminal ustice system that fails Blac communities by allo ing police to operate ith impunity. e stand ith ichael Bro n s family in their continued fight for ustice said cott oberts senior director of riminal ustice ampaigns at olor f hange in a statement. n a oint statement a coalition of organi ations including rch ity efenders ction t. ouis or ard hrough erguson and the of issouri said they support Bro n s parents. or many this ne s has unearthed painful memories and reopened still unhealed ounds the statement said. n a moment during hich many thousands of people are ta ing to the streets to demand e build a society in hich Blac lives matter e are reminded yet again that all too often in the eyes of our criminal legal system they do not. Danny Wicentowski contributed to this story.
dispute between two groups, leading to a gun battle. Police recovered one gun from the scene. The triple homicide was part of St. Louis’ deadliest month in decades. More than 50 people were killed in July, and the city is on pace for more than 250 homicides this year, a level of carnage unseen since the 1990s. Police are still investigating the trio of July 29 killings and ask anyone with information to call the Homicide Division at 314-444-5371 or, if they want to remain anonymous and possibly collect a reward, CrimeStoppers at 866-371-8477 (TIPS). n
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
RIVERFRONT TIMES
7
SMALL TOWN
M 8
RIVERFRONT TIMES
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
riverfronttimes.com
N JUSTICE
M
Rural Missourians protested in support of Black lives — and were met by armed neighbors BY DANIEL HILL
ain Street Memories, a small shop in Fredericktown, is best known as a vintage and antique gift store. But, in a pinch, it can also serve as a perfectly fine sniper s nest. For Frederick Dorsey Jr., the 21-yearold ho had organi ed the protest the weaponry was a little much. But it was nothing compared to the blatant racism hurled at him by many of those same armed townsfolk. lot of onfederate ags orsey whose mother is white and whose father is Black, says of the scene. “And I also saw people threaten to hang me from a noose. A few people were making monkey gestures and telling me I needed to go back to my own community hen ve lived in rederic to n for sixteen years. I got called many racial slurs. And then my own mother as protesting against me. In videos, counterprotesters can be seen imitating monkeys and making gestures with their hands that imply hanging by a noose. When Cheyenne Devereaux, a Black drag queen based in St. Louis, made her way over to the counterprotesters side of the street a voice could be heard saying, “Whatever that thing is arrest it. m a drag ueen evereau replied calmly. ou re a drag alright the man responded, before another man said, “String it up. String it up from the
courthouse. Meanwhile, a Jeep circled the scene for upwards of three hours, blasting a David Allan Coe song titled “N*gger uc er hose lyrical content is ust as reprehensible as its name implies. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the counterprotesters wore Trump apparel and aved ags in support of the president. “The counterprotest was supposed to be a Bac the Blue protest. But it turned into a rump rally someho orsey says. still don t understand ho that happened. y protest asn t even about the police department; it was just to sho ho racist rederic to n is. It would seem that Dorsey made his point. Still, witnessing his own family shout threats and insults at him was more than a little surreal. “Me and my mom have never had a close relationship. Before this protest haven t seen her in several years Dorsey, who lives with his dad, says. “And she was on the other side, I guess you could call it the Back the Blue, proTrump side, saying that I was just doing all this to sho my ass and m putting my life at risk and everything. And then my stepdad and his kids said they ere gonna ill me because m doing all this. He kept calling me stupid and
Activists at Fredericktown’s June 24 protest were met with racist taunts and threats from armed counterprotesters. | ADAM HAMLIN
Continued on pg 10
hat s the impression one might get from the scene that played out on the evening of June 24, when a group of protesters aiming to shed light on racism in the small southeast Missouri city were met by a larger group of counterprotesters — many armed to the teeth. Photos and video from the event show that gun-wielding townspeople were joined by members of the Three Percenters — a group described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-government militia — dressed in military fatigues and tactical vests. hey carried ri es pistols and ip ties similar to the ones used by law enforcement in lieu of handcuffs. A man spotted on the roof of the antique shop even had a suppressor on his gun. And on the other side, ostensibly in defense of the protesters, Hawaiianshirt-sporting Boogaloo Bois, a loosely organi ed group that believes a second American civil war is impending, carried their o n ri es and tactical gear. Not everyone had guns, though. Some townsfolk brought bladed weapons. At least two arrived on the scene with broadswords. Others wielded two-by-fours.
riverfronttimes.com
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
RIVERFRONT TIMES
9
Photographer Adam Hamlin, left, with Frederick Dorsey, Jr., one of the protest organizers. | JESS MARIE PHOTOGRAPHY
PROTESTS
Continued from pg 9
saying I needed to grow up. And I was like, if anything, this is the most grown-up thing I’ve done. “I didn’t say anything back, because it wasn’t worth my time, because I feel like what I’m doing is right,” Dorsey adds. “And it’s much needed.”
F
redericktown is a small city located about an hour and a half south of St. Louis, in the northeastern foothills of the St. Francois Mountains. The town’s early history saw it as a mining hub ith mines ust east of the city that were, at one point, the largest source of lead in the United States. It is the county seat of Madison ounty ith ust under people and a population that is 96 percent white, according the U.S. Census Bureau. The town contains two elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. In some ways, Fredericktown is familiar to Adam Hamlin, 34, an independent ournalist ho as shooting photos at the surreal scene on June 24. Hamlin grew up in Imperial, a similarly small and predominantly hite to n ust an hour north in Jefferson County. He still lives in JeffCo today, but no longer in Imperial. He reasons that his experience gives him a unique view into the racism that can sometimes be pervasive in small-town America. “I come from a little-bitty town myself. I come from Imperial, Missouri, which is really little. I grew up there most of my entire life, but especially throughout the entire
10
RIVERFRONT TIMES
’90s,” Hamlin says. “I know how a lot of these little towns often behave. And I didn’t go to these places loo ing for that but they definitely haven’t hidden it either.” In the past, Hamlin photographed nature — a far more peaceful affair. But ever since the events of Charlottesville’s “Unite the Right” rally in 2017 that ended in the killing of Heather Heyer by a white supremacist who deliberately drove his car into a crowd of peaceful protesters, Hamlin has felt compelled to document protests. He’s also trained as a street medic ust in case. figured if could do anything could bring some medic supplies,” Hamlin says. “But I could also capture what was happening, so that way there could never really be a question about what’s going on.” In keeping, Hamlin has spent years attending and documenting protests across the region — lately, many of them in the small towns in southeast Missouri. He notes that oftentimes those opposed to Black Lives Matter protests in more rural communities claim they don’t want to see their towns looted and pillaged — a familiar refrain for anyone who has seen the comment section on a news story in the past couple months. But Hamlin doesn’t buy it. “That’s the line that they give — that they are ust protecting their community — but it’s hard to believe that he says. he ma ority of these protesters that show up in these little rural towns also live there. So they’re not looking to destroy anything at all, and I know that the counterprotesters also know that. But the counterprotesters are also the kind of people who generally are gonna have signs on their house that say,
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
riverfronttimes.com
Missouri Social Activism, or MOSA, has brought crowds of demonstrators to small towns throughout southeast Missouri since getting its start this summer. | ADAM HAMLIN
Leticia Hindrichs, right, is one of MOSA’s ten organizers. | ADAM HAMLIN ‘We don’t call cops’ or things like that. So they can say that they’re wanting to protect their community all they want, but I think that they’re kind of looking for a show or something that they can get in on in that manner.” Hamlin has seen counterprotesters behave in all sorts of ways that don’t imply fear or defense, but rather a kind of political theater. At a recent protest in Perryville, he says, a couple drove around for hours with a Trump ag so long that they had to switch seats at one point — and thre pacifiers at the protesters to imply they were babies. At another recent protest in Park Hills, Hamlin watched a group of protesters get into a car and begin to drive away. Counterprotesters chased the car on foot. Still, Hamlin says what he saw in Fredericktown on June 24 was the most shocking display he’s seen since he got started. “It was pretty gross, all things
considered,” he says. “Like, Perryville had an actual Nazi who came out and Sieg Heiled and shouted ‘white power’ a bunch, and Fredericktown was still worse than that.” At one point in Fredericktown, Hamlin says, a man was shouting threats and taunts so forcefully that his teeth actually e out of his mouth. “He went to shout something, but instead of the word coming out, his top fake teeth came out. Like actually hit the ground,” Hamlin says. e ust pic ed em up and put em back in his pocket.”
A
s widespread protests have continued across the nation in response to George Floyd’s killing by police in Minneapolis, the already stark political divisions in the U.S. have become even more pronounced. On the right, this has led to a demonization of the predominantly leftwing protesters, enthusiastically
Activists at Fredericktown’s June 24 protest were met with racist taunts from counterprotesters, like this gesture graphically depicting the act of lynching. | ADAM HAMLIN
Armed militia groups, including the Three Percenters, have had a heavy presence at some protests. Here a sniper on the roof trains his rifle on a protester. | ADAM HAMLIN
Fredericktown resident John Johnson, organizer of June 24’s “Back the Blue” counter-protest. | ADAM HAMLIN
stoked by President Trump, who has referred to them as “thugs,” “vandals,” “anarchists” and even “terrorists.” Fear of BLM and antifa, the latter of which Trump has outright labeled a “terrorist organization,” has led to some wild fever dreams in rural and suburban communities that there will soon be riots and looting on the streets of their towns. But that fear has also been deliberately sown by neo-Nazi groups who have even gone so far as to impersonate their anti-fascist rivals online in order to further push the idea that dangerous mobs are planning to descend upon smalltown America and wreak havoc. In early June, Twitter suspended a newly created account with the username @ANTIFA_US after it posted a rather alarming tweet: “Tonight’s the night, Comrades,” the tweet read, accompanied with a bro n fist emo i. onight e say ‘Fuck The City’ and we move into the residential areas... the white hoods.... and we take what’s ours ...” Twitter swiftly moved to suspend the account for violating its rules against the incitement of violence. After an investigation, the company linked the account to the white nationalist group Identity Evropa, an organization designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Identity Evropa was also involved in organizing the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville. By the time Twitter suspended the account, though, the genie was already out of the bottle. The message was retweeted hundreds of times and popped up in several online news stories from rightleaning publications. Screenshots of the tweet made their way onto Instagram and Facebook, where they spread unabated. ocial media as ooded around this time with similar stories of antifa “bussing in” rioters to small towns — claims that were wholly unsubstantiated. On June 1, as reported by the Associated ress the sheriff s o ce in ayette County, Idaho, a rural county with a population of about 24,000, took to Facebook to address the substantial number of phone calls it had received tipping the department off to an alleged antifa invasion set to hit their community. “The Payette County Sheriff’s ce has been monitoring social media posts that have stated FALSE information,” reads a statement on Facebook. “The original post (with false information) states: ‘Family and friends in Idaho. We were told by our Congressman that Antifa has sent a plane load of their peo-
riverfronttimes.com
ple into Boise and three bus loads from Seattle into the rural areas. The sheriff in Payette has already spotted some of them. We were warned to lock our doors and our guns. We think they will stay in the larger communities but it is best to be prepared..’ “The Payette County Sheriff’s Office has not had contact ith and has not verified that ntifa is in Payette County. The Payette County heriff s ce has not given any specific arnings to our citizens about Antifa or other organizations. The information in this social media post is not accurate.” Obviously, planes and buses full of antifa “terrorists” did not show up in Payette County. But the disinformation was part of a pattern, with the AP noting similar false ags in oms iver a e ersey suburb; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Milan, Michigan. The Sioux Falls warning even used identical language as the one debunked by Payette County. Given the storm of misinformation, it might make some sense that the scene in Fredericktown on June 24 featured a whole lot of guns. That day’s “Back the Blue” counterprotest was organized by a Fredericktown resident named John Johnson as a direct response to Dorsey’s efforts to highlight the existence of racism in his city. Dorsey’s assessment of Johnson is succinct. “He’s a shit disturber,” Dorsey says. Johnson’s public Facebook page seems to bear that out. On June 27, ust a fe days after the protest Johnson changed his listed profession on the site to indicate that he is the social media manager for the Southern Poverty Law Center (he is not). About a week and a half after that, on July 8, he posted a message to his followers that might explain the imaginary career change: “If you have your work place listed on Facebook remove it,” he wrote, adding in a comment, “People are getting fired from their obs. B is stalking Facebook pages and doxxing individuals. They will contact your employer and try to get you fired. Looking through Johnson’s social media posts, a few things become clear. Johnson seems to align politically with the right — there are multiple posts in support of Donald Trump, as well as many that show disdain for Democrats. “Not all Republicans are Christian but I can be sure to know that no Democrats are,” he wrote on July 17. Johnson’s page also promotes
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
Continued on pg 12
RIVERFRONT TIMES
11
PROTESTS
Continued from pg 11
QAnon conspiracies that allege widespread child sexual abuse by celebrities, Democrats and members of the media — an unsubstantiated fringe theory that claims Trump is working behind the scenes to lock up all of the perpetrators and free the children. He frequently derides protesters and the Black Lives Matter movement, appears to have no problem with the onfederate ag but big problems with being asked to wear a mask in public, and isn’t shy to mention that he carries a gun. “Why do I carry? Because people are crazy and you never bring a nife to a gun fight he rote when sharing a story about a stabbing spree on a New York subway. “Act fast and toss brass.” According to Dorsey and Hamlin, Johnson had his own PA system at the June 24 protest, and he shared many of his views with those assembled. “He listed a lot of — most of what he was saying was more QAnon stuff but it as definitely geared in a way to rile up the protesters for sure,” Hamlin says. “I don’t believe necessarily that the man is as misogynistic as some of the things he was saying,” Hamlin adds. “The one thing that really stuck with me,” Dorsey says, “he was like, ‘Why doesn’t everyone just stop and we all can get ice cream?’ And he said, ‘You guys can get the chocolate and we can get the vanilla.’” In a post on June 26 — just two days after those dueling protests in Fredericktown — Johnson seems to offer a more thoughtful take on race relations in America than those related to ice cream. He mentions that he was asked to watch Ava DuVernay’s awardwinning 2016 documentary 13th, which makes the case that slavery was never really abolished but instead kept alive through mass incarceration which targets black people and makes them prisoners. They then, through very specific language in the onstitution s Thirteenth Amendment, can be made to work for corporations for free. “So someone asked me to watch the et i documentary 13th. Has anyone else watched this yet? The nation is stained with a past that was not fair to POC and I will say it was down right intolerant of individuals who were not white,” he writes. “I understand that the war on drugs could be seen as a war on blacks. Some drugs had heftier sentences while other drugs had
12
RIVERFRONT TIMES
Drag queen Cheyenne Devereaux is one of a few St. Louisans that have joined the rural Missouri protests. | ADAM HAMLIN lighter sentences. The idea was that the drugs that blacks used were criminalized heavier than those that were taken by whites [which] didn’t carry as hefty of a prison term. “I sat there thinking about it. I actually stopped watching the film and really anted to rap my head around the idea,” he continues. “It wasn’t just republicans who did it but it was also democrats. I sat there thinking what is the purpose of imprisoning, was it really about color or is it about class? Poor people tend to use drugs like meth, heroin, crack, and opioids but wealthy tend to use drugs like cocaine. I am not taking away from what they said but I often wonder if we are not divided by color but by wealth?” One other post on Johnson’s Facebook page lists a number with a Fredericktown area code and a photo of Johnson. It is styled to look like the “order now” screen of an infomercial. or sale is he onfidence of a Self-Entitled White Man” — a 30-day trial for only $19.99. RFT called the number, and a man
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
riverfronttimes.com
identifying himself as John said in a prerecorded voicemail message that he is the author of a book by that same name, which you can order by sending money to a Fredericktown address he lists. It’s surely a joke — some more shit disturbed, some might say. RFT left repeated messages after the beep in an effort to contact Johnson, but we received no response. Before the beep, though, Johnson wraps up the recording with his own message: “You have a great day, and remember — all lives matter.”
L
eticia Hindrichs didn’t grow up in Fredericktown, but she didn’t come from terribly far away. “I grew up in a town a little bit further east of Fredericktown called Ste. Genevieve,” she says, mentioning yet another southeast Missouri town with an overwhelmingly white population of around 4,000 people. “And I am a brown kid that grew up in that town, and I can tell you that blatant racism my whole life has been a thing. I’ve gotten derogato-
ry terms thrown at me, I’ve gotten just not the consideration of my white friends beyond that. And then even going to Fredericktown — I played softball all through high school, and going to Fredericktown to do that, I was dealing with those same things there.” Hindrichs, 28, is one of the activists behind a edgling group called Missouri Social Activism, or MOSA. The group consists of ten organizers, all from the area, that operate a private Facebook group with a membership of about 500. To date, they’ve organized six protests in southeast Missouri — two in Farmington, two in Fredericktown and two in Park Hills. Hindrichs says they usually bring out about 50 or so people. Their motivations are pretty simple. “I think it’s just a general consensus that racism is bad, systematic racism is bad,” Hindrichs explains. “And I know some of the people in our group haven’t quite caught on to what all that entails, but I think it was just that emotional response to what happened with Minneapolis, what’s going on all over the country, and we knew that we needed to stand up and do something. And eventually we found each other in the local groups, talking shit to other racists, you know. We talked within a group chat, and that’s when we decided we needed to move forward with organizing things in that area.” orsey s first e perience at a protest was a MOSA-organized event. Previously, he’d had little interest in politics or activism, but after attending one of the protests in Farmington, he sooned joined as one of the group’s organizers. “Before all of this I always just kinda kept to myself. I didn’t really care about the media or politics or anything,” Dorsey says. “But I was at work and I seen on Facebook that they were hosting a Black Lives Matter protest in Farmington. And for some reason something inside of me said that I need to go. So I got off work, went straight up there, protested, and apparently I did really well, because so many people came up to me and were like, ‘We want you to lead the next one.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing; this as the first protest ve ever been to.’ I don’t normally speak out in front of people. But apparently I’m a natural.” Dorsey decided that he wanted the first protest he organi ed to be in his hometown of Fredericktown. Though the counterprotest that was organized in response was billed as a “Back the Blue”
“It was pretty gross, all things considered. Like, Perryville had an actual Nazi who came out and Sieg Heiled and shouted ‘white power’ a bunch, and Fredericktown was still worse than that.” event, Dorsey says his protest was not meant to be about policing at all — he just wanted to prove that racism was alive and well in the small town. He says he saw pushback online from some in the community immediately upon announcing his plans. henever first posted that was doing this protest in Fredericktown, so many people were saying, like, ‘Racism is not a problem in this town,’ and that I’m ‘just bringing racism and hate to this town,’” Dorsey says. “And they think that since Fredericktown is just a small community, they think that they’re better than everyone and racism is not a problem and everything. Whereas I’ve been living here for sixteen years and I’ve been kicked out of stores. I’ve just been treated differently in this town solely based on my skin color. And if you look at me you couldn’t even tell if I was mixed, if it wasn’t for my hair. But I still get treated differently. “So many people were saying that racism is not a problem,” he continues. “But then I do this protest and I have two to 300 people on the other side literally calling me the N-word the whole entire time. How can you say that racism’s not a problem in this town when people are just blatantly being dumb?” The group plans to continue organizing protests in their communities for the foreseeable future. Hindrichs says they hope to eventually branch out into more community outreach endeavors, such as gathering school supplies for needy kids in the area and doing food drives. But meanwhile, they hope to educate people about the role racism plays in American society in general, and southeast Missouri in particular. “I would say that our original mission statement, and what we hope for in the future, is just to be able to reach out to our community and educate on these systematic injustices and how they affect not only Black and indigenous people of color in our area, but how they also affect us and how we educate and how we raise our
children and how we see other people around us,” she says. “And that’s always been a big thing for us, is to get that education out there about things that people don’t always know, or they just kind of ignore because it doesn’t affect them.”
B
y all accounts, the protest in Fredericktown on July 10 was a much tamer affair than the one held in June. Far fewer counterprotesters showed up at the scene, though the number of guns remained roughly the same, mostly in the hands of the Three Percenters and the Boogaloo Bois — both groups appeared to have brought in more of their members in response to what they’d seen last time. There were still some tense and disheartening moments. Hamlin says he saw a man dressed in an merican ag shirt bend do n and address his young children, gesturing to the protesters and saying, “Look how stupid Black people are.” That same man also tried to get his ids to ip off a photographer, Hamlin says. In a video Hamlin shared with the RFT, the man can be seen mocking protesters’ chants while his excruciatingly bored children stand at his feet. One grabs him by the arm at one point and tries to pull him away to leave. Dorsey says he had a drink thrown at him by a belligerently drunk man who was being escorted away from the scene. “From what I’ve been told he had passed out or something. But the whole entire time he was just yelling at us,” Dorsey says. “He was saying ‘Blacks are wack,’ and he kept saying stuff like that. And he’s being escorted to leave, and I just see him gearing up to throw the drink, his arm’s cocked back, and something inside of me said, ‘That’s coming right at me.’ And I haven’t said anything to this man. And he threw it at me, and luckily I kicked it down — I kicked it out of the air and it bounced back up and I caught it and I just gave it to the cops.” Continued on pg 14
riverfronttimes.com
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
RIVERFRONT TIMES
13
PROTESTS
Continued from pg 13
Dorsey also spotted a couple of ne rather head scratching ags waved by some at the event, including a black and blue Confederate ag ith a blue line through the middle of it, as well as a half-American half onfederate ag hybrid. “And you guys get mad at us for holding an upside do n ag orsey says. hat s ust contradicting everything you guys say about the ag. But, all things considered, it was far less intense than the June protest. indrichs says there as also less screaming between the two groups. he says organi ers took steps in advance to ward off confrontation, instructing protesters not to respond to every insult hurled in their direction, and to instead focus on the tas at hand. “If somebody calls you a bitch, then you ta e it. ou don t have to have those arguments she says. “And I think when we got that message through to people, that we are there to relay a message and sometimes hat e re doing in between that is not productive, then it started to get better and there were less confrontations. nd there as more ability to cross the line and reach out to people and tal to people. organi ers came armed with talking points and pamphlets to distribute as ell. orsey says they designated a tree in the area to be the spot that people who wanted to debate could go to do so. hat ay instead of ust shouting across the street at one another, people could get together and tal their differences out. “And people were actually having debates and listening to one another and actually kind of coming together orsey says. Johnson was on the scene again as ell amlin confirms but this time he didn t bring a system — instead, he had some conversations with some of the protesters, no longer attempting to drown them out ith his o n spea ers. fe posts on ohnson s acebook page, in reply to someone who was asking how the protest went, shed some light on his view of those discussions. hey ere pretty peaceful. had several great conversations. Wish I had more answers but it as productive he rote in one post, before noting a conversation ith one specific oman in another post. told her ould be praying for her. he as a s eet girl. heir hearts seem to be in the right place. ome good people in
14
RIVERFRONT TIMES
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
riverfronttimes.com
the movement. ust don t line up ith them politically. n amlin s vie a crucial difference bet een uly s protest and une s is that uly s protest didn t have a large group of counterprotesters high on right-wing fantasies of lawless protesters spoiling for a fight. any of the townsfolk that had attended the first event sa that the protesters eren t rioting or hurting anyone amlin figures so they opted to stay home. “I do believe that maybe some of them legitimately thought that there could have been some sort of riot or whatever, depending on what it is they see, but I do think a lot of them literally ust ind of came out to be combative amlin says of une s protest. hether or not they wanted to save their town, they ust anted to be combative. But none of the protesters wanted to be combative. nd thin that that also helped a lot of the counterprotest lose steam, was knowing that if they came out, no matter how aggressive they were gonna be, nobody was gonna respond to that. o anybody ho as loo ing for maybe an altercation or a fight most of those people didn t come bac because they ne it asn t gonna happen. orsey s assessment is largely the same. “I think it was more that they reali ed e eren t there to cause a riot; we were there to make a change and educate people he says. nd guess they re li e maybe they re not as bad as e thought. o guess people came into the mindset of wanting to listen and maybe change. ith uly s protest so carefully regulated and organi ed as continues to hone its tactics indrichs agrees that they were simply better able to get people to listen to hat they had to say. nd that s already paying dividends. indrichs says the group has since had a number of people reach out to them through the group s acebook page, as well as some of the pages of the individual organi ers to learn more of hat they re all about. nd thin that s great because it gets us out of that situation of high stress, tensions being thick, and I think with how the protest went it was easier for people to reach out to us afterwards without feeling threatened she says. ll told it s heartening for orsey a young organi er ho ust ants the best for his hometo n. feel li e change is coming he says. nd thin people are finally listening instead of ust riting us off. n
SHORT ORDERS
“There is diminished interaction, distance and separation because of being on other side of the door or window, and there is no face-to-face,” Summit says. “It changes the interaction, but it’s still just as rewarding. The focus is now on making sure that even that brief instance is as fulfilling as possible — a very sincere, genuine interaction is important if the only chance I have to engage them is the 90 seconds of payment and handoff. We’ve always been passionate about providing excellent service; that was always the goal, but now it’s really a much more micro focus, and it becomes clear how much that has been a goal of mine all along.” Summit took a break from Yolklore to share his thoughts on what it’s like to work in the industry during such challenging times and what gives him hope in this moment of crisis.
[SIDE DISH]
Service in Seconds Yolklore’s Brandon Summit seizes moments for hospitality Written by
CHERYL BAEHR
A
s early as age eight, Brandon Summit was drawn to cooking and serving people — not simply for the artistry of the craft, but mainly because he was motivated by hospitality. “Even at a young age, I enjoyed cooking quite a bit, and I have a very hospitable nature,” Summit says. “When friends would come over, I’d make food and drinks, and I’d make breakfast for my family. Because of that, when I graduated high school, I went to culinary school at L’Ecole Culinaire, then worked at a few restaurants around town and eventually for Kaldi’s and Honolulu Coffee Company. The passion was for food as an artistic expression, but the driver is really my natural inclination for hospitality.” As the new general manager at the daytime eatery Yolklore (8958 Watson Road, Crestwood; 314-2708538), Summit is still motivated by the love of service, even as the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the notion of hospitality. In place of long, face-to-face interactions, the industry has become much more transactional, with the opportunities for providing great customer service fewer and shorter than pre-pandemic. However, Summit is embracing the challenge, drawing upon a decade-plus career in the industry working for Kaldi’s that began shortly after he graduated culinary school. At the coffee chain’s Columbia location, Summit realized that his passion for the industry went beyond cooking on a line to managing the operations of a store. He got the opportunity to do that for eight years, running the Columbia store before moving to Hawaii to work for the com-
17
Brandon Summit of Yolklore provides express hospitality during the pandemic. | ANDY PAULISSEN pany’s Honolulu Coffee Company brand. e managed fifteen stores and embraced every moment of balancing his work responsibilities with living in paradise. After coming home to St. Louis, Summit continued on with Kaldi’s until this March, when the COVID-19 outbreak came to the area in full force. Like many food and beverage outlets, the coffee chain struggled to adapt to the changes brought on by the virus. As a result, Summit was furloughed and needed to figure out his ne t steps. “The [COVID-19 situation] is not ideal for them, and unfortunately, they had to let go a fair number of their managers and just keep on some of their core leadership team,” Summit says. “As part of that, I was furloughed. I totally understand the reasons for it, and it was completely amicable.” Fortunately for Summit, Yolklore was in need of someone with his skills right at the time he was furloughed from Kaldi’s. Unlike many of its peers in the industry, the Crestwood restaurant is as well positioned as it can be for the changes caused by the new COVID-19 reality. It’s fast-casual, drive-thru model has made it safe and accessible to guests who want to dine out but are concerned
about doing so in a dining room. As such, the restaurant is looking to expand and needed someone with Summit’s know-how to help it grow. He’s relishing that opportunity. t our first face to face meeting, we hit it off and were speaking the same language,” Summit says of his interactions with owners John and Mary Bogacki. “It was the perfect time for them to have someone with experience come along. I’ve ran multiple locations and can see very clearly where they are going and have the experience to help them build that momentum. It was a wonderful stroke of luck for everyone involved.” As Summit helps the Bogacki’s grow Yolklore, he is cognizant of the challenges they face when it comes to creating value for their guests when traditional ways of providing hospitality have gone out the window. He sees big changes coming for the industry as things become much more automated and there is less face time with guests. However, as Summit sees it, it’s not the end of service but rather an opportunity to change how things are done and make each moment more meaningful.
riverfronttimes.com
What is one thing you make sure you do every day to maintain a sense of normalcy? I make sure to spend time outside. A good dose of sunlight can really make a difference in staying positive and energized. What have you been stress-eating/drinking lately? Honestly, I have retuned to some nostalgic childhood cereals as breakfast or midnight snacks. You really can’t beat sugary marshmallow cereal every now and again. Once you feel comfortable going back out and about, what’s the first thing you’ll do? I would love to go see a movie with friends and family. What do you think the biggest change to the hospitality industry will be once people are allowed to return to normal activity levels? I think that many people will have a new appreciation for the people behind the counter. The thing about small luxuries is that they are easily taken for granted. I think that this time where people have had limited access to their favorite spots has already changed the level of appreciation people are showing for the service we provide. What is one thing that gives you hope during this crisis? How much people have come together as families and communities to support one another. n
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
RIVERFRONT TIMES
15
THANK YOU ST. LOUIS FOR ANOTHER GREAT BURGER WEEK! PARTICIPATING RESTAURANTS Alpha Brewing Company Aya Sofia Beffa’s Big Daddy’s on the Landing Big Daddy’s in Soulard BLT’s The Blue Duck Bootleggin’ BBQ Brew Hub Taproom Burgers STL
Carnivore Crispy Edge Crusoe’s The Dam Defiant Dough Duke’s in Soulard Eat-Rite Diner Emmanuel’s Franchise Bar and Grill The Frisco Barroom
Good Times Saloon Green Dragon CBD Hi-Pointe Drive In J. Smug’s Gastropit Jack Nolen’s Johnny’s West The Pat Connolly Tavern The Piccadilly @ Manhattan Pitstop Pizzeoli Wood-Fired Pizza
PRESENTED BY:
BURGERWEEKSTLOUIS.COM 16
RIVERFRONT TIMES
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
riverfronttimes.com
Refinery Bar and Grill Schlafly Bankside Schlafly Bottleworks Schlafly Tap Room SharpShooter Pit & Grill Super Smokers BBQ The Tattooed Dog The Wood Shack
[ L I B AT I O N S ]
New Rye Rising Wellston-based Switchgrass Spirits is out with a new offering Written by
THOMAS CRONE
T
he last time we checked in with Switchgrass Spirits (switchgrassspirits.com), not quite two months ago, the upstart local distillery was releasing a young bourbon called First Batch. It was created in a smaller amount, as a way to continue introducing folks to their name, but also because the product was tasting ready for market. No need to rush it, they figured originally; nor was there a need to hold back upon tasting that year-old bourbon. And so, in June, it became their second product. There’s a bit of that same spirit in the new rye whiskey released today by Switchgrass, its third offering. One of the Wellston-based distillery’s principals, Nick Colombo, says that Switchgrass Rye was created with a four-year release point in mind, but that testing occurs along the way — just in case there’s something
special in those barrels. If there’s a collective feeling that the work’s ready for market, that’s where it goes. Not content to just rely on their own palates, Switchgrass called on a group of folks that Colombo laughingly calls “whiskey nerds, the type who collect bottles,” in order to get a handle on if their new rye was ready. Local bar scene maven Ted Kilgore sat down for an hourlong tasting and conversation. The general take was: Go for it. “We made it for cocktails,” says Colombo. “It’s got a high rye content, more than 75 percent, with some barley and wheat and no corn. So it’s a wheated, sweet mash rye, pretty smooth, with a crazy amount of different flavors. “When I think of ryes,” he continues, “I think of boldness. I think of heat, a high proof, peppery, more flavor. So ryes aren’t for everyone, for those reasons. When they want a rye, they want ‘more.’ When I think of bourbon, I think of something that’s smooth, that you can sip. In designing our two barrels, one for bourbon, one for rye, we wanted the rye barrel to be bold and for the bourbon to be smooth.” The price point for these early introductions is kinder for the customer, with Switchgrass products retailing in area stores for just shy of $30. In addition to various specialty stores that have already carried Switchgrass, its products are now for sale at four key Schnucks locations, a major retailing coup for the young opera-
tion. Colombo notes that bigger stores will want products that are available all the time, and Switchgrass Rye will, in fact, be one of the flagship offerings with regular availability. The businesses that gave their first few products a run, though, were bars and restaurants. And many of those are not operating at anything resembling pre-COVID-19 levels, if they’re even open at all. Because quite a few of them were sympathetic to picking up local products, Colombo says that Switchgrass has been getting creative in sales of late. With Switchgrass Rye, for example, the crew created the Rye 100 Club, for which they’ll quite literally arrive at a buyer’s door with a packaged Rye, as well as a glass and a personal thanks. Colombo says that running a distillery giving birth to product lines during a pandemic has been “definitely interesting,” but that this 100 Club notion “has been pretty fun. We hope to do more of these.” The flagship bourbon will arrive in October, with apple brandy and clear apple brandy also in various stages of the distilling process. For those curious for a taste and who missed out on the 100 Club, Switchgrass Rye is available now.
You won’t have to wait to try Switchgrass’ new rye whiskey. | COURTESY SWITCHGRASS SPIRITS
riverfronttimes.com
Thomas Crone is a longtime Riverfront Times contributor. He reports regularly about new releases from local distilleries and craft breweries.
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
RIVERFRONT TIMES
17
18
RIVERFRONT TIMES
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
riverfronttimes.com
CULTURE
19
[CLOSED]
Stop Bar St. Louis Health Department temporarily closes multiple bars for ignoring guidelines meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 Written by
DANIEL HILL
T
he City of St. Louis’ Department of Health has ordered that four bars be temporarily closed for outing public health guidelines meant to slow the spread of coronavirus in the a e of a viral video sho ing mas less partiers cro ding the dance oor of a popular local bar. The Wheelhouse, which was the site here the video as filmed is oined by tart Bar Big addy s on the anding and ar uee estaurant ounge in a mandatory fourteen-day closure. Start Bar and the Wheelhouse are under the same ownership. n a press release uly ayor yda re son s o ce notes that some businesses in St. Louis “have continued to openly disregard rules that re uire people to socially distance and wear masks,” even after some have received cease-and-desist letters from the city’s Department of Health. ater on this afternoon or first thing tomorro morning our ealth epartment ill be issuing letters to a few of those businesses saying that they have to close for two weeks,” Krewson said during that day s briefing. “This is a very serious step that we never wanted to have to take. But e are seeing increases in cases significantly e are seeing high hospitali ation numbers on average seven day and e have tried to bring people into compliance. And so at this point we believe that those businesses that are not complying ill need to close for two weeks.” The statement notes that “news reports and social media posts” have made evident that the businesses have refused to be in compliance. That’s notable due to
The Wheelhouse in downtown is one of four bars ordered by the City of St. Louis to close for two weeks. | DOYLE MURPHY a video that s been ma ing the rounds of a pac ed dance oor at the Wheelhouse, short on masks or anything remotely resembling social distancing. The video is a screen capture of an nstagram story originally shared by the account @wheelhouse nightlife. hether due to the ephemeral nature of nstagram stories or a deliberate decision to pull it in the wake of the backlash, the story is no longer available from that account. But Twitter user @And_Ark shared the screen capture of the story the afternoon of July 26, and the video has since been viewed more than 72,000 times. “Hey @WheelhouseSTL, we’re in the middle of a pandemic,” that user wrote in a post accompanying the video. is this ne of those ho sa the video it would seem, is the mayor herself. “We have seen the videos on social media from over the weekend of bars and nightclubs obviously outing our mas mandate and social distancing re uirements she wrote on Twitter. “This is both reckless and unfair to other businesses or ing hard to do it right. hough it appears to mostly serve as a promotional vehicle for the bar, it is not immediately clear who operates the @wheel-
house nightlife account. he heelhouse s o cial nstagram account is @wheelhousestl. A call to the bar for clarification as not answered, and as of press time we’ve not heard back after leaving a message. uring her uly briefing Krewson described the decision to close businesses that refuse to comply with public health mandates as a surgical approach. “So many businesses have been or ing so hard to follo the guidelines. e re trying to avoid shutting do n a hole classification of businesses,” she said. “We don t thin that s the fair thing to do. e re ust using hat ould call more of a surgical approach to this rather than what I’d call a blanket approach.” he specific classification of businesses to which Krewson refers is, more than likely, bars and nightclubs. ultiple states and cities have moved to close the bars in their borders in recent weeks as it has increasingly become clear that drin ing establishments are alarmingly effective at causing to spread. he fact that they involve people hanging out indoors for long periods of time breathing in one another s germs coupled with alcohol’s tendency to make otherwise careful people
riverfronttimes.com
drop their guard has caused them to become targeted by city and state o cials ali e. Bars even came up in a series of recent new mandates announced by St. Louis County Executive Sam age ho has ordered that they be closed each evening by p.m. going for ard. he moves by both age and re son come as issouri has seen increasing numbers of cases in recent ee s putting up five record high numbers of cases in the week prior to the mandates alone. Some of those cases have made it into the Wheelhouse’s orbit already. n une the bar s o nership hich also o ns the idwestern and Start Bar, abruptly announced that all three establishments ould be closing temporarily due to concerns. At that time, owner Stephen Savage told St. Louis Magazine that two employees and one customer had tested positive for the virus. e ere trying to eep our employees busy trying to do our part to help the city’s coffers, but reali ed that all things considered, maybe now is the time that we should be closed avage told St. Louis Magazine. All three bars reopened on July . n
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
RIVERFRONT TIMES
19
20
RIVERFRONT TIMES
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
riverfronttimes.com
SAVAGE LOVE STATING THE OBVIOUS BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: I’m a gay guy who’s involved with a guy I met a few months before COVID-19 took off. He’s a great guy, smart, funny, hot, healthy and easy to be around. It started as a hookup but we have chemistry on several levels and, without either of us having to say it, we started seeing each other regularly. We both live alone and decided to be exclusive due to the pandemic. I honestly don’t know what we’re doing here. It’s some combination of friends, fuck buddies, and married couple all at the same time. I wanted to just keep a good thing going but he just threw me a curve ball that I need help figuring out how to handle. Out of the blue he told me he held back telling me about his foot fetish. He says he’s had very bad experiences with guys who weren’t into it. He’s been keeping it to himself and looking at stuff online. I’m pretty vanilla and not into it, but I know kinks are a thing for a lot of guys and I’m willing to help out a good guy. I’m a longtime reader of yours, Dan, and being GGG is important to me. So I asked him to tell me what that means and what he wants to do. He wants to massage, wash and kiss my feet and suck my toes. Ok, that’s not hot to me, but it’s probably doable once in a while. He thankfully doesn’t need me to do anything with his feet. But there was more. I can’t believe I’m writing this: He asked if I would let him paint my toenails sometimes! WTF? He could barely say it and looked kind of sick after he did. We’re both conventional cis men. Neither of us are into fem stuff. He claimed it’s not about making me femme. He says it’s just a hot thing for him. I know there’s no explanation for why people have kinks but do you have any ideas what this is about? I didn’t respond at all and we haven’t talked about it since. I’m not proud of that. I’m freaked out by this and not sure what to make of it. I don’t want to ask him directly if this is the price of admission because that seems too big a price to pay and I really don’t want it to be his price.
Freaked Out Over Terrific Person’s Erotic Revelation Vibe From your panicked response, FOOTPERV, you’d think this poor guy wanted to cut your toes off and masturbate while you bled out. Dude. He just wants to paint your toenails — as prices go, that’s a very small price to pay for smart, funny and hot. Yeah, yeah: You’re both conventionally cis and presumably conventionally masculine. Since we’ll never know what caused him to have this particular kink — kinks really are mysteries — let’s just run with that: He thinks this is hot — or his dick thinks this is hot — because guys like you aren’t supposed to have painted toenails and guys like him aren’t supposed to paint toenails, FOOTPERV, and this small transgression against gender norms makes his dick hard because it does. While it’s not always the case with all kinks, in this instance the most obvious explanation is the likeliest explanation. Moving on ... You say he’s a great guy, you say you enjoy being with him, and you say you’re a longtime reader. So you had to know that I was gonna say this: Buy some fucking nail polish already and leave it on the nightstand where he can see it and let him paint your fucking toenails. And if you really hate it, FOOTPERV, if it freaks you out to have polished toenails — or if your masculinity is really so fragile it shatters under the weight of toenail polish — then you don’t have to do it again. But I also gotta say ... as off-the-wall sexual requests go ... this is a small ask. If you were claustrophobic and your boyfriend wanted to mummify you, FOOTPERV, or if he wanted to use you as a urinal and you weren’t into piss, I would totally give you a pass. Some sexual requests are big asks and the third “G” in GGG (“good, giving, and game”) has al ays been ualified game for anything — within reason.” Some sexual requests are huge asks, some prices of admission are too steep, and some desires can only be accommodated by people who share them. But this request — what your COVID-19 spouse wants to do to you — is a small ask and a small price, FOOTPERV, in no way comparable to being turned into
“He says it’s just a hot thing for him. I didn’t respond at all and we haven’t talked about it since. I’m not proud of that. I’m freaked out by this and not sure what to make of it.” a mummy or used as a urinal. So smoke a little pot, put your feet on the nice man’s lap, and try to take pleasure in the pleasure you’re giving. If I sound a little impatient, FOOTPERV, I apologize. We live in a deeply sex- and kink-negative culture and our first reaction hen a partner discloses a kink is often a knee-jerk negative reaction to the idea of kinks at all. In the moment we can fail to distinguish between the big ask/steep price and the small ask/small price. And I hope you can see the compliment this great, smart, funny, hot guy was paying you when he asked. He felt safe enough to share something with you that other guys have judged and shamed him for. Take the compliment, buy the nail polish, pay the price. Hey, Dan: I am a 37-year-old female who, almost three years ago got out of a six-year toxic, violent relationship with a man I believe I loved. After I left him for good my life started to improve in so many ways. However, it seems that my once very healthy sexual desires have died. Ever since we broke up I haven’t felt any sexual needs or attraction towards anybody. I honestly think there’s something wrong with me. I can’t even picture myself having intimacy again. A year ago, I went out on a couple of dates with a man younger than me,
riverfronttimes.com
21
he was cute and very interested in me but I just didn’t feel the connection. I really don’t know what to make of this situation. Any advice is profoundly appreciated. Just Another Gal Could it be a coincidence? Besides ridding yourself of a toxic and abusive ex — and that’s harder than people who haven’t been in an abusive relationship often realize and I’m so glad you got away from him — did something else happen three years ago that could’ve tanked your libido, JAG? Did you go on meds at the time for depression or anxiety? Could an undiagnosed medical condition that came on at roughly the same time create a libido-tanking hormonal imbalance? Did you go on a new form of birth control in anticipation of the sex you’d soon be having with other, better, nicer, hotter, kinder men? If nothing else is going on — if you aren’t on meds for depression or anxiety, if you’ve had your hormone levels checked and they’re normal, if a new form of birth control isn’t cratering your libido — then the most obvious and likeliest answer is probably the correct one: Three years after getting out of an abusive relationship, JAG, you’re still reeling from the trauma. And the best advice is also the obvious advice: Find a sex-positive therapist or counselor who can help you work through your trauma and reclaim your sexuality. Even if you were to get your hormone levels checked or adjust your psych meds or switch to a new birth control method, I would still recommend seeing a counselor or therapist. And even if the thought of being intimate with others causes you stress and makes you anxious, JAG, you can still explore solo sex. You don’t have to wait for the right hot young man to come along in order to reconnect with your sexuality. You can read or write some erotica, you can splurge on an expensive sex toy (have you seen the new clit-sucking vibrators?), you can watch or create porn. Really enjoying yourself may be the first step to ard en oying others again. mail@savagelove.net @FakeDanSavage on Twitter www.savagelovecast.com
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
RIVERFRONT TIMES
21
22
RIVERFRONT TIMES
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
riverfronttimes.com
riverfronttimes.com
AUGUST 5-11, 2020
RIVERFRONT TIMES
23
THE GREEN DRAGON CBD
IS A ST. LOUIS, FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS THAT RECENTLY OPENED ITS FLAGSHIP LOCATION IN CHESTERFIELD Did you know that your body already produces cannabinoids every day as part of a key system that runs throughout your body and helps to regulate almost every part of your body’s functions? CBD is one of many natural cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant, and is used to promote overall health and wellness, as well as to deal with many health challenges. Our company’s mission, and the physical store itself, was constructed with the intention of helping to educate both existing and brand new potential users on every aspect of CBD. The education center includes video, wall displays and printed material to help customers explore CBD and related topics. The inviting environment, much like a spa, is supported by knowledgeable and friendly associates. We are excited to have created an animal friendly establishment, where 5% of all pet product sales go to benefit Stray Rescue of St. Louis. When you are ready to buy CBD, you have the largest selection of top-quality, trusted brands and
products anywhere. Select from many product categories to find the best method based upon personal preference:Jack CBD Oils & Tinctures, CBD Flower or Pre-Rolls, CBD Topicals, CBD Gummies, Edibles, Drinks, CBD for Pets, CBD Vaping…and more! In addition to the store resources, the online presence, at www.thegreendragoncbd.com has dozens of blog posts covering many topics of CBD usage, CBD myths, and unique testimonials from CBD users. You can also place orders online for delivery at-home. 15% off for all first time customers in-store, or go online for special web offerings!
The Green Dragon CBD www.thegreendragoncbd.com 14856 Clayton Rd Chesterfield, MO 63017 (636) 220-7278 Open Mon-Sat 8am-9pm, or Sun 9am-6pm
