Bono "Deeply Saddened" By Turn Of Events In St Louis

The band's legion of fans in St Louis' were left devastated after Saturday night's concert there was called off at the last minute. Local police said they weren't in a position to "provide the standard protection" required for the audience because of ongoing civil unrest in the city.
U2 were meant to perform at the St Louis' Dome at America's Center, but the local law enforcement has been under the cosh trying to deal with an outbreak of protests in the wake of ex- police officer Jason Stockley being controversially acquitted of murdering a black man.
He was found not guilty by a judge of the brutal shooting back in 2001 of Anthony Lamar Smith. During the trial, he was accused of planting a gun at the scene of the crime in order to claim self-defence.
So far, eight police officers were seriously injured when a peaceful protest turned ugly. And the local law enforcement fear things could spiral further out of control.
Reflecting on it all, Bono wrote how he found himself going back to read a famous speech by Dr Martin L King. "Deeply saddened at what has happened in St. Louis and having to cancel our show tonight….I found myself reading Dr. King’s speech from the National Cathedral and asking myself is this 1968 or 2017? - Bono. “Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability….we are coming to ask America to be true to the huge promissory note that it signed years ago. And we are coming to engage in dramatic nonviolent action, to call attention to the gulf between promise and fulfillment; to make the invisible visible.”

Deeply saddened at what has happened in St. Louis and having to cancel our show tonight….I found myself reading Dr. King’s speech from the National Cathedral and asking myself is this 1968 or 2017? - Bono “Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability….we are coming to ask America to be true to the huge promissory note that it signed years ago. And we are coming to engage in dramatic nonviolent action, to call attention to the gulf between promise and fulfillment; to make the invisible visible.”

A post shared by U2 Official (@u2) on Sep 16, 2017 at 12:07pm PDT

In a joint statement released on Saturday night, U2 and Live Nation said it was "regrettable" that the gig had to be cancelled.

"We have been informed by the St. Louis Police Department that they are not in a position to provide the standard protection for our audience as would be expected for an event of this size," the statement read.

"We have also been informed that local crowd security personnel would not be at full capacity.

"In light of this information, we cannot in good conscience risk our fans’ safety by proceeding with tonight’s concert.

"As much as we regret having to cancel, we feel it is the only acceptable course of action in the current environment."