Activist: Mall of America protest ‘decoy’ for airport block

The mall issued warnings that “this demonstration is not authorized” and that “those who fail to leave the property immediately will be subject to arrest”, before police in riot gear began escorting people out of the building.

The first tweet came a little after 2 p.m.: “Protesters are now blocking the Terminal 1-Lindbergh inbound roadway, causing traffic backups”.

“That policy is in place to protect the safety of all Mall of America guests, employees and tenants”. Law enforcement on the ground level tranport area at the Mall of America.

The country’s largest mall was placed on lockdown Wednesday as police cleared what they called an “unlawful” Black Lives Matter demonstration. So that’s exactly where Black Lives Matter protesters in Minnesota went to demonstrate Wednesday. A judge on Tuesday barred three organizers from attending the demonstration but said she doesn’t have the power to prevent others from showing up to demonstrate.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Mall of America was used as “a decoy” to start a protest that quickly moved to Minneapolis-St. Two security checkpoints closed for about 45 minutes, causing flight delays but no cancellations, airport spokesman Patrick Hogan said.

After their failure, some protesters took the Light Rail to the airport, where they were rebuffed by police. The judge did say three organizers were not allowed at the mall. “I think it was really effective”. Five arrests were made at the mall; one arrest – the brother of Jamar Clark – was unrelated to the protest and due to an outstanding warrant in Olmsted County. Cahill also said a private property owner might seek civil damages against those who engage in conduct that results in lost profits or property rights.

Police said it was an “unauthorised demonstration” and at one point described the situation as “very, very dangerous”. The 24-year-old died the day after he was shot in north Minneapolis by police responding to an assault complaint. Just days after the non-indictment decision in Sandra Bland’s murder in Texas and two months after the fatal police shooting of Jamar Clark in Minnesota, we continue to demand justice, including the release of the tapes in the Jamar Clark case.

Stores closed their gates, kiosks were covered, and several signs that read that protests were not allowed could be seen across the mall property.

That didn’t deter Art Seratoff, a 67-year-old protester from Minneapolis.

“They talk about this demonstration as being disruptive”, Seratoff told the AP.

The Black Lives Matter is a loosely-organized African American civil rights movement formed in summer 2013, after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, a white security guard who shot dead an unarmed black man named Trayvon Martin in 2012 in the state of Florida.

Police dispersed Black Lives Matter activists at America’s biggest shopping center after hundreds showed up at Mall of America, defying a restraining order.

Video posted on Twitter showed the demonstrators chanting “if we don’t get no justice then they don’t get no peace”, as snow fell on the road to the terminals.

But outside the airport, roads to both terminals and light rail trains in the area were all temporarily blocked, the Star Tribune reports.