St. Louis antique store owner Cherri Elder formed positive relationships with police patrolling in the area, so she decided to display an American flag containing a thin blue line a symbol for police sacrifice in front of Elders Antiques.
But the gesture didnt go over well with everybody.
People came by, they would cuss at you, they would harass you, Elder told KMOV-TV, they would harass the customers.
Image source: KMOV-TV video screenshot
Elder told the station she took down the thin blue line flag to avoid continued trouble.
I thought things were getting better, she told KMOV. But apparently its not.
What happened?
A month after taking down the thin blue line flag which is now displayed inside her 32-year-old store Elder told the station she found a large handwritten sign on the front window of Elders Antiques that read: Pig supporters not welcome. Flag goes down or you go down.
On the right bottom corner of the sign was a hammer and sickle presumably standing for communism and the former Soviet Union along with the letters MLM, which KMOV said often stands for Marxism-Leninism- Maoism.
Image source: KMOV-TV video screenshot>
What happened at a nearby store?
A window at Delmay Ltd. Antiques one of Elders neighbors a few doors down is now boarded up.
Image source: KMOV-TV video screenshot
Why?
Three individuals were seen on surveillance video kicking in the window and running off, KMOV reported.
Image source: KMOV-TV video screenshot
My business, my friends are being targeted, Elder told KMOV.
While Elder added to the station that she has every right to fly a flag, she said she doesnt think shell be putting it back on display.
But whatever Elder decides, she told KMOV that these actions must stop before somebody gets hurt and that she desires a return to some kind of normalcy where people have respect for one another.