Several arrests as protest blocks Minneapolis airport access

Allen says the group needs to keep demonstrating at “economic pressure points”. The governor said releasing video of officers’ altercation with Clark, as demanded by protesters, could jeopardize the investigations. The protesters connected to the Black Lives Matter movement had flocked to the airport, forcing traffic delays and light-rail disruptions in the process.

What began as a large protest at the Mall of America, ended up taking action on the Minneapolis-St.

Airport officials say access to one of two terminals has been blocked by protesters, causing significant traffic backups on nearby roads. “Now!” Protesters peacefully went to a nearby light-rail train station that allowed quick access to the airport a few miles away.

Hennepin County District Court Judge Karen Janisch on Tuesday ruled that three individuals named as defendants in the mall’s lawsuit against organizers of the previous action could not attend the latest protest, but she limited her order to them.

Black Lives Matter held demonstrations in Minnesota and California on Wednesday to protest police killings of unarmed blacks, dubbing the day “Black Xmas” to show it could affect the economy on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. She warned that the order, which did not extend to the group itself or unnamed people, “should not be interpreted as authorizing or permitting others to engage in political demonstration at the Mall of America without the express permission of the Mall of America”.

A statement from the national Black Lives Matter movement hailed Wednesday’s rallies and read in part: “Black Xmas is here and there will be no business as usual until we get accountability for our dead, and justice for the living”. “Now!” Police urged onlookers out of the mall’s central rotunda, threatening arrest.

The event would continue the protest of the November 15 shooting death of Jamar Clark, who was killed during a scuffle with police.

“I never feel safe when there’s a mass of [officers] in military gear”, said Black Lives Matter supporter Chauntyll Allen. “Those who fail to leave the property immediately will be subject to arrest”, said a video screen message at the mall during the demo.

The massive retail center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington houses an amusement park and more than 500 shops spread across four floors, attracting shoppers from around the globe.

Bloomington police have not said what security measures the mall may put in place to curtail the protest.

Dozens of stores closed their security gates ahead of the expected protest, and police were patrolling the area.

Protestors at Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport.

Mall officials and Bloomington police have declined to explain their security plans. “Just barring three of us does not mean that you’ve stopped our work”.

“Our number one priority is the safety of everybody out at the Mall of America today”, he said Wednesday morning. Attorney Jordan Kushner, who represented the group’s leaders Miski Noor, Kandace Montgomery and Michael McDowell, said the mall could remove demonstrators but could not tell them what they may say.

Hoping to garner attention on one of the busiest travel days of the year, members of Black Lives Matter crossed onto the 405 this afternoon, leading to a brief shutdown of the freeway’s southbound side.

“They only hear us with money”, she added.

This is story has been updated.