15 Black Lives Matter activits arrested as they protested at the airport, Mall of America

Several hundred Black Lives Matter activists shut
down at least one terminal at the Minneapolis-
St.Paul International airport Wednesday for about
two hours in an afternoon of protest that began
miles away at the huge Mall of America.
A total of 15 people were arrested at both sites

,mostly for trespassing or obstruction of justice,
police said. No injuries or property damage were
reported.
The protesters not only disrupted rail traffic to the
terminals, they blocked the freeway in front of the
airport, snarling holiday traffic on one of the

busiest travel days of the year.
The protest was aimed at drawing attention to
the police shooting last month of Jamar Clark, a
24-year-old black Minneapolis man. Clark died

one day after he was shot by officers responding
to a complaint of an assault.
Most of the protesters came to Terminals 1 and 2
by light rail from the initial demonstration at the
mall in suburban Bloomington.
In anticipation of demonstrations at the mall,
several stores, including a Starbucks and a
Barnes and Noble, were closed around the central
rotunda. Barricades were also erected on several
levels nearby.
As protesters began assembling, the mall


announced that the demonstration was unlawful
and asked the activists to leave the grounds.
Signs had advised visitors that many shops
would be closed temporarily during the early
afternoon, when the protests were scheduled.
As police urged onlookers out of the rotunda,
threatening arrests, many protesters abruptly filed
outside, toward a light-rail station. Many chanted
"What do we want? Justice! When do we want it?
Now!"
Many then went by light-rail to the airport, where
they renewed their demonstration. Some got into
pushing and shoving matches with police and
airport security. Heavily armed police, trying to
stem the arrival of protesters, eventually
assembled at the rail arrival platform to keep
people from entering the terminal.
Trains were eventually prevented from stopping
at the terminals. After more than an hour, as the
protest dwindled, police then had to deal with
protesters who left the airport to return to the
privately owned and operated mall, which includes
an amusement park and more than 500 shops on
four floors.
A judge on Tuesday ordered three organizers of
the black activist movement not to attend the
protest but said she did not have the power to
block unidentified protesters associated with the
group from showing up.
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.