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ST. LOUIS — The Uhuru Bakery and Cafe wouldn’t be the first small business to struggle to get a permit from City Hall.

But members of the African People’s Education and Defense Fund say they suspect something more than City Hall bureaucracy and its unwritten traditions are hampering their plan to open a new eatery at 3719 West Florissant Avenue.

The defense fund, which bought the property in January, is tied to the African People’s Socialist Party, whose chairman, Omali Yeshitela, was convicted in September of conspiring to act as a Russian agent. Federal prosecutors in Florida, where the party is based, alleged he and two ºüÀêÊÓƵ residents and party leaders, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel, worked with a group funded by the Russian government and directed by members of the FSB, the Russian federal security service.

Prosecutors alleged Yeshitela and the others took trips to Russia funded by the group and parroted Russian propaganda, particularly about its invasion of Ukraine, to sow divisiveness in the U.S. Yeshitela has called for “unity with Russia in its defensive war in Ukraine against the world colonial powers,� according to the 2023 indictment. A jury acquitted Yeshitela, Hess and Nevel of the more serious crime of acting as a foreign agent but upheld the conspiracy charges.

The College Hill Neighborhood Association took notice. It sent a letter in August opposing the business, arguing, among other things, that the Uhuru movement was “divisive, which is the Russian government’s goal.�

The ºüÀêÊÓƵ Board of Public Service on Sept. 3 denied the conditional use permit needed to open the business. Charles Coyle, director of public safety, recommended the permit be denied, according to the meeting materials. The Board of Public Service said the use would be “detrimental to public health, safety, morals and the general welfare.â€�

But the defense fund’s president, Ona Zené Yeshitela, who is married to Omali Yeshitela, said her group had been canvassing the neighborhood about the proposed business and received over 200 signatures in support. The Uhuru Bakery and Cafe, she said during a press conference outside the small storefront Tuesday, would let north ºüÀêÊÓƵ residents enjoy the simple pleasures of a good meal and a drink in their own neighborhood.

“How can a bakery and cafe with beer and wine, just like bakery cafes on the south side, be detrimental to the community?� she said.

Conner Kerrigan, a spokesman for Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, said the neighborhood association opposed the group’s application for a liquor license. But he also noted the federal conspiracy convictions.

The Uhuru Group has been active in the neighborhood for years. It built new basketball courts on West Florissant, rehabbed a headquarters building and beautified an adjacent lot to host farmers’ markets. It has rehabbed other properties and claims to have invested $1 million in the neighborhood.

The city’s land bank last year balked at selling the group some real estate following Yeshitela’s conviction, though it eventually allowed the sales to proceed.

The Uhuru supporters accused the city of letting a few residents in a neighborhood association torpedo a project supported by most residents. The opposition letter to the city was signed by Teri Rose, who identified herself as “president emeritaâ€� of the College Hill Neighborhood Association. That group does not appear to have an active website on the list maintained by ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Rose only incorporated it in October 2023.

But Rose said in an interview that the College Hill Neighborhood Association voted 13-6 to oppose the Uhuru Bakery. There isn’t enough foot traffic to support the restaurant, she said. Selling alcohol would be throwing “gasoline� on a fire, she said.

“We don’t want any liquor stores up here,� Rose said. “No liquor sales at all.�

“I got no use for them,� she added. “And it’s mostly the divisiveness, that’s what they’re mostly about.�

Nevel, one of the convicted leaders and an UMSL student, spoke at Tuesday’s event and called the College Hill Neighborhood Association a “fraudulent entity,� arguing the city’s reliance on support from such entities is not required.

“Try to find in the city code where it says you need a letter of support from the alderman or a neighborhood association,� Nevel said. “You won’t find it.�

Alderman Rasheen Aldridge has since sent a letter in support of the business, saying it “will enhance business and residential experiences.� A hearing on the Uhuru Bakery’s permit appeal is scheduled for February.

Asked whether the Omali Yeshitela conviction for conspiring to act as a Russian agent was driving the city’s decision to deny a permit, Ona Zené Yeshitela said the two issues were unrelated.

“This is not about Omali Yeshitela, this is about the African People’s Education and Defense Fund,� she said as Omali Yeshitela stood behind her. “Mr. Yeshitela is not involved in African People’s Education and Defense Fund.�

Afterward, Omali Yeshitela, 82, emphasized the jury acquitted him of working as a Russian agent and called his conviction of conspiring to work as an agent little more than a “thought crime.�

“I feel confident I am innocent,� he said.

His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 16. He faces up to five years in prison.