Black Lives Matter causes delays at Minneapolis airport

“The court does not have a sufficient basis to issue an injunction as to Black Lives Matters or to unidentified persons who may be acting as its agents or in active concert with the Black Lives Matters movement”, Hennepin County district court judge Karen Janisch wrote.

The protest comes with the United States embroiled in an acrimonious national debate about racism and the use of deadly force by police. On Tuesday, a judge refused to grant the request of the privately-owned complex to bar the protesters from disturbing the peace at the largest mall in the country. He said Wednesday was going to be a busy travel day regardless.

Police got most protesters back onto the light rail or buses by about 3:15 p.m., arresting a few in the process.

As more police began to arrive at the airport, some of the protesters moved inside one of the terminals.

The airport also advised travelers to leave extra early because of the delays caused by protesters, the facility said on Twitter.

The activists accuse police agencies nationwide of bias against the black community.

The protest Wednesday is aimed at drawing attention to the police shooting last month of a black Minneapolis man, Jamar Clark.

The group was planning to block the U.S. Highway 101 exit to the San Francisco airport on Wednesday, CNN affiliate KGO reported.

Bloomington Police Deputy Chief Denis Otterness confirmed officers would be at the mall, but declined to discuss their plans for handling the protest.

Thirty Minnesota State Patrol troopers will also be at the scene, according to Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton.

About 500 protesters initially gathered at the Mall of America early Wednesday afternoon, then abruptly walked out while chanting, “What do we want?”

But they were met with officers using a loud horn to say the demonstration on mall property was not authorized.

Kandace Montgomery, one of three organizers barred by the judge’s order, said the group isn’t deterred by the ban, the Associated Press reports. The purported draft restraining order, posted on the Black Lives Matter Minneapolis Facebook page, would have prohibited the defendants from “engaging in any demonstration on MOA Premises without the express, written permission of Mall of America”.

The governor questioned the need for such a demonstration, noting that federal and state investigations are ongoing into the death of Jamal Clark, who was shot by Minneapolis police responding to an assault complaint.

Mall of America officials have warned that anyone who is protesting will be subject to arrest because the mall is private property.

The protesters have vowed to demonstrate regardless of the judge’s decision, hoping to draw the public’s attention to last month’s police killing of 24-year-old Jamar Clark.

A Minnesota judge refused to bar Black Lives Matter protesters from organizing demonstrations at the Mall of America just days before Christmas.