SHERWOOD, Ark. — Protesters supporting the Black Lives Matter movement blocked the entrances and exits of two Arkansas Walmart locations Sunday afternoon, forcing the stores to close.
Dozens of demonstrators, chanting “Black lives matter,” “Defund the police” and “Defund Walmart,” marched in front of Walmart locations in Jacksonville and Sherwood, KARK reported.
A few protesters at each site carried signs that read, “Walmart is destroying public education,” among other messages.
The retail giant is based in Bentonville, Arkansas, but it was not immediately clear if proximity to the corporate headquarters had any bearing on Sunday’s protests.
According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, an employee at the Jacksonville location said the store was shut down due to the protests around 1:30 p.m., and the protesters moved about 10 minutes later to the Sherwood Supercenter. That store was then closed shortly before 3 p.m., after the remaining shoppers left, and protesters remained outside until about 3:15 p.m., when they headed south.
The rolling protest then set up camp outside a Walmart Neighborhood Market, less than half a mile south of the supercenter, around 3:25 p.m., the Democrat-Gazette reported.
According to KARK, a handful of counter-protesters has arrived at the latest scene.