Protests in Minnesota
Hundreds rally at Mall of America, later block airport terminal.
MINNEAPOLIS — Protesters blocked access to a terminal and caused significant holiday traffic delays Wednesday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport during a Black Lives Matter rally near the nation’s largest mall.
Officials said access to one of two terminals was closed when more than 100 protesters gathered inside and blocked roads leading to the airport. Two security checkpoints closed for about 45 minutes, causing flight delays but no cancellations, airport spokesman Patrick Hogan said.
Protesters took a light-rail train to the airport from the Mall of America, where hundreds of demonstrators initially gathered to draw attention to a recent police shooting of a black man in Minneapolis.
“The mall was a decoy,” said Black Lives Matter organizer Miski Noor, who protested at the airport. “I think it was really effective.”
Police said 15 people were arrested at the sites, mostly for trespassing or obstruction of justice, but that no injuries or property damage were reported.
Gov. Mark Dayton said the protest was creating a “very, very dangerous situation,” and he urged protesters to stop blocking access to part of the airport.
The governor questioned the need for such a demonstration, noting the ongoing federal and state investigations into the death of Jamar Clark, who was shot by Minneapolis police responding to an assault complaint. Dayton said releasing video of officers’ altercation with Clark, as protesters have demanded, could jeopardize the investigations.
About 500 protesters initially gathered at the Mall of America early Wednesday afternoon, then abruptly walked out while chanting, “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!” Protesters peacefully went to a nearby light-rail train station that allowed quick access to the airport a few miles away.
Dozens of stores closed their gates, kiosks were covered and Santa left his sleigh shortly before protesters gathered at the shopping district on one of the busiest days of the year. Numerous signs were posted on mall property saying that no protests were allowed — including a long message on a screen in a central rotunda between two Christmas trees.
That didn’t deter Art Seratoff, a 67-year-old protester from Minneapolis.
“They talk about this demonstration as being disruptive,” Seratoff said. “If I think about an unemployment rate in the African-American community three times the white unemployment rate, that’s disruptive.”
The retail center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington has an amusement park and more than 500 shops spread across four floors.
Neither mall officials nor Bloomington police said what security measures they put in place to prepare for the protest, though special-event staff members were searching bags and were stationed at every mall entrance. Security guards cordoned off parts of the central rotunda, and officers from several cities patrolled inside.
The mall sought a court order blocking the planned protest. A judge on Tuesday barred three organizers from attending the demonstration but said she didn’t have the power to block unidentified protesters associated with Black Lives Matter — or the movement as a whole — from showing up.
Bloomington Deputy Police Chief Denis Otterness confirmed that officers would be at the mall but declined to discuss their plans for handling the protest.
“Our No. 1 priority is the safety of everybody out at the Mall of America today,” he said Wednesday morning.
Kandace Montgomery, one of three organizers barred by Judge Karen Janisch’s order, said the group wasn’t deterred by the ban. She declined to say whether 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.
Montgomery said the retail site was the perfect venue for their demonstration to pressure authorities involved in the investigation of Clark’s death to release video footage.
“When you disrupt their flow of capital … they actually start paying attention,” she said. “That’s the only way that they’ll hear us.”
Mike Griffin, who joined similar protests last year, said his flight to Chicago was among those delayed.
“While I’m delayed an hour and a half to get back to my family for Christmas, I know there are several black families mourning the loss of innocent black men,” said Griffin, a 29-year-old from Minneapolis. “My mom is a little bit annoyed, but she’s going to see me this holiday season.”