Law enforcement prepares for mall protest

Black Lives Matter activists will descend on the Mall of America outside of Minneapolis today to protest the recent police shooting of an unarmed black youth.

During a press interview given at the court by an attorney for Mall of America, other Black Lives Matter protesters “crashed” the interview with their own signs, some of which contained a hashtag the group started to mock the attempt by Mall of America to protect the rights of store owners and customers: #MOASueMeToo.

The mall had requested a temporary restraining order against Black Lives Matter Minneapolis, four named activists and four other individuals, referred to as John Doe 1-4. This week they asked a judge to bar the group, its leaders and others from protesting and require it to delete social media posts advertising the demonstration.

The group’s protests last year at the Mall of America drew almost 3,000 people and forced over 80 stores at the mall to close temporarily on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. The mall’s management issued a statement Saturday saying it was “extremely disappointed” that protest organizers ignored the policy banning political protests.

Gov. Mark Dayton said Wednesday that 30 Minnesota State Patrol officers would be on hand in Bloomington at the request of the local police department.

As more police began to arrive at the airport, some of the protesters moved inside one of the terminals. He said he sympathizes with protesters’ concerns, but he stressed that the mall is private property. 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”. It’s unclear what additional steps the mall may take to curtail the protest. Police said at first that Clark was shot following a struggle, but eyewitnesses have said he was already in handcuffs when he was shot. In this December 21, 2015 photo, Kandace Montgomery left and Miski Noor of Black Lives Matter speak with media after a hearing at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis. They want to press authorities to release video of the shooting that remains undisclosed. “Just barring three of us does not mean that you’ve stopped our work”, she said.

The judge did, however, ban three organizers from attending the demonstration. She declined to say if she or her fellow organizers still planned to go to the mall, but she said she expects at least 700 people to show up. They also want federal terrorism charges against three “white supremacists” who opened fire on the demonstrators outside the 4th Precinct in November, injuring five.