Days after liberal-minded symphony attendees sat quietly while direct action protesters disrupted their evening out, red-blooded Americans attending a baseball game in St. Louis went toe to toe with Michael Brown’s defenders.

There have been two Michael Brown demonstrations outside Busch Stadium since the shooting in August.  Last month attorney/activist Eric Vickers indicated in a letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig that upcoming playoff games in St. Louis have been identified as "protest targets."

A few weeks ago, the stadium was the scene of a foiled demonstration.  Organizers Sarah Griesbach and Elizabeth Vega, two middle-aged white women who wore Cardinals jerseys, unfurled a protest banner and were instantly met with shouts from sports fans.  The same women were also behind the October 4 St. Louis Symphony demonstration.  After the failed ballgame protest, the duo from an upscale neighborhood decided that a symphony hall would be a better location.

From Colorlines:

“When we lowered our Michael Brown banner...we went from people being smiled at to instantly being perceived as representing something that was hated.” A wall of sports fans started screaming, ‘Pants Up, Don’t Loot’ and ‘Lock Them Up!’ After being handcuffed and escorted out of the stadium — more so “for our own safety,” both say — Vega recalls Griesbach looking at her and deadpanning, “I think we need a new venue...I really needed to laugh, then.”

While reliving their game nightmare at a local Thai restaurant, Griesbach hit on the symphony crowd — mainly because they weren’t the typical Cardinals crowd. “I knew they would be more receptive. I knew this was a public that was interested in the world, that listened to NPR, read newspapers and [was therefore likely to hold] nuanced views.”

Griesbach and Vega were right.  The STL symphony demonstration ended with no one being led out in handcuffs.  Some in the audience and orchestra even applauded; others sat stone-faced.  In the YouTube video at the 36-second mark, one lone male voice can be heard saying, "He’s a thug."

The polite, positive reception at Powell Hall must have emboldened the activists to head back to the stadium.  Two days later, on October 6, Michael Brown demonstrators once again showed up outside the ballpark.  Apparently, according to tweets, the protesters faced off with Cardinals fans outside the exit and re-entry gate for smokers.  Not a great idea.

In the Stadium video, a Michael Brown activist can be seen holding the American flag upside-down.  The defiant act did not go over too well.  In contrast to the symphony attendees, the baseball crowd shouted the demonstrators down.  Loud chants of "USA!  USA!” drowned out what sounds like 'f*** you' coming from the Brown mob.

Read more Evans at ExZoom.net.