Activists with the coalition For Us, Not Amazon interrupted an event for stakeholders in Arlington, drawing boos from the crowd.

Ally Schweitzer / WAMU

Members of the D.C. region’s business community experienced opposition to Amazon firsthand Thursday morning, when protesters interrupted a private event attended by a top Amazon executive and hundreds of business representatives.

During a ticketed panel conversation in Arlington, hosted by media and events company Bisnow, a small group of demonstrators walked in front of the stage holding signs and chanting, “Pay-to-play is not OK. We want a public hearing today.”

The protesters were part of a local coalition called For Us, Not Amazon. Activists with the group have criticized Arlington County Board members for considering a $23 million incentives package for the online retailer, which is expected to open a campus in Crystal City this year. The board plans to vote on the incentives March 16.

The demonstration did not go over well among some attendees at the sold-out event, which brought together hundreds of business representatives and government officials for an otherwise friendly series of conversations about Amazon’s projected impact on the region. Many audience members booed the activists while organizers temporarily shut off the sound system.

“They must be from New York,” said Bisnow’s Casey Sheehan, the event’s host, after protesters were escorted out.

That remark was a reference to Amazon’s recently scuttled deal in New York City, which was widely attributed to resistance from local activists and some elected leaders.

One of the architects of Amazon’s deal with Arlington County, Arlington Economic Development Director Victor Hoskins, sat on stage during the brief demonstration. He was joined by Alexandria Economic Development Partnership President Stephanie Landrum, Meridian Group’s Bruce Lane and the panel’s moderator, Kedrick Whitmore of law firm Venable.

Minutes after the outburst, Amazon’s worldwide head of economic development, Holly Sullivan, walked onstage. “[It] comes with the territory,” she said, referring to the demonstration. She called the protesters “a few of our friends that like to follow me around the country.”

Sullivan addressed the crowd alongside Matt Kelly, CEO of JBG Smith, the developer that owns most of Crystal City’s commercial property, and moderator Bill Collins of Cushman & Wakefield. Sullivan fielded a question about the state’s $750 million Amazon incentives package, which she has repeatedly said was not the deciding factor in the company’s choice to settle in Virginia.

Incentives are just “a tool in our toolkit,” Sullivan said, repeating comments she recently made at George Mason University.

Before Virginia and Arlington hatched a deal with Amazon, the company sent representatives to Crystal City to gauge public opinion, Sullivan said. Employees visited local bars and coffee shops to chat with residents about how they’d react if the corporation opened a campus in Northern Virginia.

Public feedback was encouraging, Sullivan said. “Even before we announced, we felt welcome here.”

But the demonstration just minutes earlier revealed traces of resistance to the mega-retailer. Activists have raised concerns about the company worsening gentrification and working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They’ve also accused Amazon of failing to communicate with community members, saying the company has limited its local engagement to closed-door events with government officials and business leaders.

Arlington County Board member Erik Gutshall recently told news outlet ARLnow he would be “very hesitant to vote on the incentive agreement without [Amazon] having had some meaningful engagement in the community.”

But with just two weeks left before the board is expected to vote on the county’s incentives offer, Amazon has not announced plans to participate in any local public events.

This story originally appeared on WAMU.

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