Mall of America, Airport Closed Due to Black Lives Matter Protest

Paul International Airport. “Significant traffic backups” were caused as a result of the protests, the airport said.

The protest is the latest in a string of demonstrations in Chicago in response to the release last month of police dashcam video showing the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times.

A judge ruled Tuesday that several local Black Lives Matter organizers cannot demonstrate at the Mall of America on the busy shopping day before Christmas Eve, but she said she couldn’t stop others from attending the… The protesters gathered at the shopping center, the largest of its kind in the country, and chanted, “What do we want? Because we will drag you out of that office for justice”.

Officials said that traffic at the airport was back to normal by Wednesday evening and that about 80 stores at the mall were closed for about an hour as officers escorted protesters off the property. The 24-year-old black man died the day after he was shot by Minneapolis police responding to a recent assault complaint. He said he sympathizes with protesters’ concerns, but he stressed that the mall is private property.

Montgomery said the retail mecca was the ideal venue for their demonstration to pressure authorities involved in the investigation of Clark’s death to release video footage.

Shops began locking up shortly before Wednesday s protest was set to begin and security guards searched the bags of people entering the mall, according to images posted on social media.

Separately, another eight people were arrested in a small demonstration in San Francisco, reports said, on what the activist group branded “Black Xmas”.

Twelve people were reportedly arrested on charges ranging from trespassing and disorderly conduct, to failure to obey lawful order.

“Our No. 1 priority is the safety of everybody out at the Mall of America today”, he said Wednesday morning. She declined to say if she or her fellow organizers still planned to go to the mall, but she said she expected hundreds of protesters to show up – including some prepared to be arrested.

Black Lives Matter Minneapolis said on its Facebook page that at least 10 people were arrested during the course of the day and appealed for donations to pay their bail.

Kandace Montgomery, one of three organizers barred by Judge Karen Janisch’s order, said the group wasn’t deterred by the ban.

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