LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Retail giant Walmart closed some of its locations in Arkansas after Black Lives Matter demonstrators gathered outside of stores in an effort to shutter them in the wake of George Floyd ’s killing in Minneapolis.
Four Walmart stores and a Sam’s Club closed on Sunday in Little Rock, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. The international corporation is based in the state.
Walmart said Sunday they would monitor the situation closely and continue closing stores when necessary.
But spokesman Charles Crowson wrote in a Monday email to the Associated Press that stores had reopened and “will continue operating on the current COVID-19 schedule (7a-8:30p).”
On Sunday, activist Dawn Jeffrey told protesters at a Walmart location while live streaming on Facebook that they were done with the “wicked Waltons.” She noted how the founding family takes too much money from the community and invests in private prisons.
“This is what people power looks like, when you’re taking their dollars,” Jeffrey said.
Protesters traveled to each location and chanted “no justice, no peace,” and “defund prisons, defund Walmart” outside store entrances. Little Rock police were visible outside at least three Walmart locations.
Lt. Michael Ford, a Little Rock police spokesman, said in an email to the newspaper that the closings was not a joint effort by the police and Walmart. There were no arrests or vandalism reports, he added.
After Floyd’s death at the hands of police on May 25, people across the world have gathered to protest systematic racism and police brutality.
.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.