Above Photo: Aaron Lavinsky. FILE – In this Dec. 20, 2014 file photo, demonstrators chant, “Black lives matter,” to protest police, at the Mall of America rotunda in Bloomington, Minn. The Minneapolis chapter of Black Lives Matter is planning to rally later in December 2015 at the mall to protest the November killing of Jamar Clark, a black man by Minneapolis police. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
Update: On November 22, 2015 the judge heard the argument for a restraining order and refused to block people coming to the mall. Hennepin County District Court Judge Karen Janisch also refused to order the group to take down their posts about the protest being held on Wednesday, November 23rd. The judge did bar the three alleged organizers, who were the defendants in the case, from attending. The protest will go on, protest organizers want to draw attention to the Nov. 15 police shooting of a black Minneapolis man, Jamar Clark, who died a day later. They also want to ramp up the pressure on investigators to release video of the shooting.
.@BlackLivesMpls says #blackxmas protest at @mallofamerica is still on tomorrow #JamarClark pic.twitter.com/QreZfPAnPg
— Jim Hammerand (@jimhammerand) December 22, 2015
Translation: #BlackLivesMatter baited the most racist mall they could find, and it worked.
@BlackLivesMpls @CGoHome
— Pen Bird (@Pen_Bird) December 22, 2015
MOA has a history of overreaction to peaceful events so we're asking supporters to donate for bail: https://t.co/41PBTEd9PX #MOASueMeToo
— Black Lives MPLS (@BlackLivesMpls) December 23, 2015
Note: Although they destroyed our occupation, they will not destroy our spirits. If we don’t get justice for Jamar Clark and Black Minnesotans, we will return to the Mall of America.
A year after our first Mall of America action, we have not seen nearly enough progress in our state. Last month, Jamar Clark, a young black man was shot in the head by police while handcuffed according to witness testimony, prompting an 18 day occupation of the 4th Precinct that was bulldozed by police.
We have endured an armed white supremacist terrorist attack where 5 of us were shot; police violence in the form of mace, batons, and less lethal projectiles; over 50 arrests on highway 94 and at the 4th Precinct; and freezing temperatures to demand justice for Jamar Clark. If it’s not clear yet: we won’t stop until we get it.
We reiterate our demands:
–#ReleaseTheTapes of his killing
-Prosecute the police involved without a grand jury by a special prosecutor
-Federal domestic terrorism charges against white supremacists who shot 5 protestors
-Institute a safety plan to protect our communities from Police violence
-Disinvest from police and reinvest in Black futures
We will also affirm that in the face of unprecedented islamophobia and xenophobia, Black immigrant and refugee lives matter. We will not tolerate racial profiling and hate at the Mall of America or anywhere in our state.
Jamar’s family deserves justice this Christmas, and until they get it, there will be no peace.
—–
Make SURE to text @BlackLives to 23559 for updates & live instructions for this event or you might be out of the loop.
Meet at the Rotunda on the East side of the mall.
Donate to our BAIL and EMERGENCY FUND: www.bit.ly/BlackLives
Monday 6pm Member meeting to learn more & plan for 2016:
POC member meeting: https://www.facebook.com/
Allies member meeting: https://www.facebook.com/
Mall Of America Sues To Stop BLM But They Are Coming Any Way
The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., has asked a court to keep Black Lives Matter activists from holding a protest at the massive shopping center later this week and has proposed a restraining order that would prohibit demonstrators from discussing their plans on social media.
The Minneapolis chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement announced through its Facebook page on Monday morning that the Mall of America — the largest shopping mall in the United States — has filed aproposal that would not only ensure activists are barred from holding a protest on December 23, but would require organizers to publicly condemn their plans.
Activists had planned to gather at the mall’s East Rotunda on Wednesday afternoon to draw attention to the fatal officer-involved shooting last month that took the life of Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old black man who died following an altercation with the Minneapolis Police Department.
If approved by a Hennepin County judge, activists would be prohibited from engaging, soliciting or encouraging any demonstration on mall property on Wednesday, and also be required to purge details of their scheduled rally from social media.
“Defendants and their agents are ordered to delete and take down any online materials, including posts on Facebook, messages on Twitter and online messages in any other form that solicit or encourage others to engage in any demonstration on MOA Premises on December 23, 2015 or that provide information about the planned demonstration on MOA Premises on December 23, 2015,” reads an excerpt from the proposed injunction posted on Facebook.
Additionally, the mall has asked the court to compel Black Lives Matter to “immediately post” on its Facebook page news that the event scheduled for Wednesday has been cancelled.
Organizers of this event slated for this week have condemned the proposal as “unconstitutional” and said they plan to follow through with their protest.
“The Mall America continues to seek to bar free speech for the community on its premises despite receiving hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies which it has used to appropriate the traditional public forum in service of its own corporate profit. The Mall of America has now taken the further outrageous and totalitarian step of attempting to control the speech of individuals,” the group said on Facebook.
“Organizers have no plans to halt the demonstration unless authorities release the tapes related to Jamar Clark’s case, prosecute police without a grand jury by special prosecutor and bring federal terrorism charges against white supremacists who shot five protesters during the occupation,” the activists demanded.
Susan Gaertner, an outside attorney for the mall, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press last week that the shopping center is private property and “as such, has a right to prohibit protests.”
“Mall of America will continue to prohibit protests on its property, no matter how righteous the cause might be. The mall does this to protect the safety and experience of its guests,” she said.
Around two dozen protesters were arrested at this time last year as the result of a similar rally held at the mall by Black Lives Matter activists to address police brutality.