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Business & Tech

UPDATED Video: 'Occupy St. Louis' Protesters Take Over Intercom at Arnold Walmart

Occupy St. Louis protesters march inside Arnold's Walmart Super Center, hijack store's intercom system on Black Friday.

Updated: 3:15 p.m.

(An earlier version of this story indicated Walmart representatives did not return requests for comment. A Walmart representative sent to Patch a statement that can be read in the story.)

At around 10 p.m. on Black Friday, a group of about a dozen people identified with the Occupy St. Louis movement went into the Super Center, where they marched through the aisles chanting as one individual shouted messages across the store’s intercom system, according to a video posted on the Occupy St. Louis Facebook page, and on the movement’s Youtube page.

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“In 2000, Walmart was sued 4,851 times in regards to discrimination, unfair wages and environmental disputes,” says one of the protesters in the video, as he hijacked Walmart’s Intercom system. “Eighty percent of all Walmart suppliers are in China, yet ‘made in America’ banners hang in the store... Walmart spends thousands of dollars per month preventing employees from unionizing... You are bad for America."

The speaker went on to lead the chant, “Walmart, Walmart you can’t hide, we can see your greedy side.”

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The protesters went around the store chanting and exited, seemingly without any resistance.

Information Officer and Arnold Police Major Nick McBroom said he heard about the incident, but the department did not receive any phone calls regarding the matter. He said no incident was reported by Walmart.

Dan Fogleman, a Walmart spokesperson, sent the Arnold Patch the following statement in response to the protests:

"Black Friday was a busy day for us. We respect people’s right to have a point of view but the reality is millions of people came through our doors this weekend and, for the most part, they left happy. Our focus is, and will always be, on serving our customers," said Fogleman in an email.

According to a River Front Times article, a member of the occupy St. Louis movement who was at the Walmart event said people just stopped and looked at them.

"We couldn't let Black Friday go by without doing anything,” said the source, as quoted in the article, who wished to remain anonymous. “Our camp is gone, but we're not. We all know we're taking risks, but I don't see it as something that is going to stop."

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