Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Politics/National
BlogsNationalNews

Black Lives Matter Protesters Shutdown Mall Of America, Airport, And Light Rail for #BlackXmas2

By | Published on December 23, 2015
CommentsComments (4) Add as a preferred source on Google i
AP_28704920138-1024x595

CREDIT: AP PHOTO/JIM MONE

Activists from the Black Lives Matter movement gathered at the Mall of America near Minneapolis, Minn., for a planned high-profile protest before being  taking their demonstration to the light rail train station and the Minneapolis airport.

“The mall was a decoy,” said Black Lives Matter organizer Miski Noor, who protested at the airport. “I think it was really effective.”

An hour before the protests were set to begin, authorities began to barricade the East wing of the mall and various stores began to lockdown.

Local Black Lives Matter organizers planned the Wednesday demonstration to raise awareness and pressure authorities to release video footage of last month’s deadly police shooting of Jamar Clark, a black man from Minneapolis. Last week, mall officials tried to seek a restraining order on protesters, but a judge only barred three organizers from attending.

Using the hashtags #Justice4Jamar and #BlackXmas2, protesters and citizen journalists reported on the large police presence and Orwellian security measures.

Three were arrested for trespassing and one individual was arrested for trespassing and disorderly conduct. Approximately 80 stores were closed for about an hour while law enforcement officers escorted protesters out of the mall. Protestors then headed to the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport, while others to the light rail.

A similar protest last year held at the Mall of America, drew more than 2,000 people, according to the Associated Press.

In addition to Minnesota, #BlackXmas protests were planned for the San Francisco Bay area, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Subscribe To The ABS Newsletter — Get our stories in your inbox.

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Latest from Atlanta Black Star

Back to top