VIDEO: St. Louis Confirmed Wild as Illegal Fireworks Light Up Downtown

The videos capture fairly big explosives being lit on July 4

Jul 6, 2023 at 10:56 am

FOUR VIDEOS: Fireworks chaos & at least two people shot in downtown St. Louis 4th of July. Fireworks continued in the streets of Downtown until after 3:30 AM with little to no law enforcement. This morning the streets are littered with debris. #Citizens4STL @saintlouismayor… pic.twitter.com/Bmy2LS0VHA
— Citizens for a Greater Downtown St. Louis (@Citizens4STL) July 5, 2023

A set of videos posted to Twitter yesterday show a sample of just some of the many illegal fireworks and other minor explosives being lit in the streets of downtown on the night of July 4.

The videos show young people dancing and having fun, but they also capture fairly big explosives being lit right in the middle of city streets and scaring the bejeezus out of some witnesses.

There have been some high-profile shootings downtown in recent times, and many residents are on edge, so Kiener Plaza sounding like the fall of Fallujah is not a welcome scene.

Landing on an opinion about this situation can be a difficult balance for many St. Louisans to find because who among us hasn’t pointed incendiary devices at our friends? But also, damn, downtown needs to get it together. But also also, if the people featured in the videos were middle aged white dudes shooting off fireworks after a big Blues win, these scenes would be downright encouraged.

What everybody seems to agree on, though, is that the vibe is off downtown. Lately, visitors are saying it feels dangerous in a way that it hasn’t always felt dangerous. Some blame it on a lack of proper policing in the area, but it seems obvious that the bigger issue is the proliferation of guns in the streets.

When guns are easier to get, everybody gets more. Even the bad guys. Until Missouri adopts common sense gun laws, it seems like we’re just doomed to get even more bad news. File that away in your mind to reflect on the next time you're in the voting booth.