St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones vows to 'hold the business owners accountable' for 'violence around convenience stores and gas stations'

During a Memphis, Tennessee meeting to launch a coalition of black mayors against crime in the US, the St. Louis mayor suggested they hold business owners "accountable" for criminal activity happening around convenience stores and gas stations.  

The meeting this week was organized for the launch of the "Black Mayors' Coalition on Crime."

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones said during the meet-up that there has been "a lot of violence around convenience stores and gas stations" in St. Louis.  

She then added, “So how can we hold those business owners accountable and also bring down crime? Some of the things are already doing, we’re finding other mayors are doing as well.” 

The comments came as part of the meet-up lasting from Wednesday to Thursday, according to a press release from Memphis Mayor Paul Young. The event hosted 21 mayors and other officials from the District of Columbia, Indiana, Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, Minnesota, Arizona, Arkansas, California and North Carolina.  

The release added comments from Young, who said, "For the first time in history, we have an unprecedented number of black mayors in some of our biggest cities: Mayor Adams in New York City, Mayor Bass in Los Angeles, and Mayor Johnson in Chicago, to name a few." 

He added, "Many of these leaders come from the communities most affected by crime, so they have a unique perspective on solving it." 

The Democrat-run cities of Memphis, as well as St. Louis, in recent years, have been plagued by violent criminal activity and are ranked in the top 10 most dangerous cities in the US, according to World Population Review.