Destruction and debate: Here's what happened at the Merle Hay protests on Sunday

Katie Akin
Des Moines Register

Merle Hay Mall reopened Monday for shoppers after a night of mopping up from demonstrations that devolved into vandalism and minor looting but ultimately ended peacefully.

Mall manager Liz Holland said some vandals broke into the mall through Shoe Carnival and gained access to the main corridor. They attempted to breach other stores, but did not appear to take much merchandise, Holland said.

"This was a horribly unfortunate event, and the timing couldn't have been worse (as stores reopened from COVID-19 restrictions), but I think everyone's rallied together to make it less disruptive," she said.

The protest on Sunday began early and small, with just a dozen protesters gathered quietly outside the mall's Target store. 

At 3 p.m., the group held signs and chanted while mall employees secured boards to the windows of the Minneapolis-based store, whose locations have been protest spots around the country following the asphyxiation death of an African American man while being pinned down by that city's police.

Several stores closed early as the protest began. Police officers, parked about 20 yards away, looked on as demonstrators yelled at them

Protestors chant and hold up signs on the marquee for Merle Hay Mall on Sunday, May 31, 2020 in Des Moines.

As evening approached and the crowd grew, the protesters expressed hopes the demonstration would be peaceful and police would cooperate. Imani Brown, 28, noted at 5:30 p.m. that there were children attending and volunteers bringing water and snacks.

“I would prefer that (the police) were out here protesting with us,” Brown said. “It only takes one to be heard.”

The group expanded to well over 100 by 6:30 p.m., and continued to grow. Protesters began blocking traffic on Merle Hay Road, including a police vehicle. As protesters yelled and splashed water on the windows of the cruiser, police responded, scattering the crowd with pepper spray and making two arrests.

The incident began hours of stand-offs between the protesters and police. Officers used tear gas to drive protesters back to the Merle Hay Mall parking lot, where some broke windows of mall stores and vandalized the outside of the building.

A man shatters a glass door on a business at Merle Hay Road and Douglas Avenue on Sunday, May 31, 2020, in Des Moines.

Around 8 p.m., police drove the vandals and other protesters away from the mall and across Douglas Avenue. As they fled tear gas, Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri was pepper sprayed and arrested while she was covering the demonstration. According to Polk County Jail booking records, Sahouri was charged with failure to disperse and interference with official acts. She was released late Sunday night.  

The crowd of protesters regrouped near the intersection of Douglas Avenue and 57th Street. Community leaders, including Iowa state Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad and volunteers from Mothers Against Violence, pleaded with the protesters to go home, while directing traffic around the group.The protesters did not disperse and police advanced, using tear gas and a flash-bang device.

Just before 9 p.m., when a newly imposed Polk County curfew was set to begin, Abdul-Samad and a few others met with police and negotiated a deal: Protesters would be allowed to stay out past curfew and march down Douglas Avenue, so long as nothing was thrown and no more property damage was done. 

The crowd of hundreds began to move as one, first up and down Douglas Avenue before heading south on Merle Hay Avenue. Protesters confronted police about 10 p.m. at JT Guns & Supplies, where several squad cars were parked. Abdul-Samad, now with a bullhorn, tried to negotiate an agreement under which police officers and protesters would kneel together, as they had at a downtown protest earlier in the night, and then disperse. 

Some protesters knelt with a few officers. Other protesters, upset that not all the police officers knelt, marched back to the intersection of Merle Hay Avenue and Douglas Road. On the way, some protesters broke from the group and broke windows at businesses. Marchers on the street yelled at the vandals to stop.

A protester speaks to a large crowd on Merle Hay Road in Des Moines on Sunday, May 31, 2020.

Gathered in the parking lot of the Verizon store, Abdul-Samad and the Rev. Rob Johnson of the Second Baptist Church in Fort Dodge addressed the crowd, again proposing they kneel with the officers and then attend upcoming city council meetings to voice their concerns. A debate broke out within the group as some individuals accused Abdul-Samad of ineffective leadership and argued that meetings didn't work in the past. 

At about 11:30 p.m., some police officers took a knee near the protesters while others remained lined up across the street, on the edge of the mall's parking lot. A small group of protesters knelt and began praying in a circle that the kneeling officers joined.

Simultaneously, protesters who did not want to kneel approached the line of waiting police on the hill. Police threw tear gas onto Douglas Avenue, scattering the advancing protesters and the prayer circle.

As the gas lifted, protesters regrouped on Douglas Avenue while police watched from the mall parking lot. The final hour and a half of the event involved debate rather than violence, as protesters argued with each other and community leaders about the best way to have their voices heard. Both police and protesters gradually left the scene.

"What you see right now happening is people are listening," Johnson said. "As we begin to let them talk, they begin to leave after they express themselves."

Katie Akin is a retail reporter for the Register. Reach her at kakin@registermedia.com or at 515-284-8041. Follow her on Twitter at @katie_akin.

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