Tag Archives: Mall of America

Undeterred by Mall’s Crackdown, Black Lives Matter Shuts Down Business-As-Usual

Racial justice protest in Minneapolis moves from Mall of America to airport after lockdown

By Deirdre Fulton, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 12-23-2015

A standoff between police and protesters in Minneapolis on Wednesday. (Photo: @BLongStPaul/Twitter)

Heavy-handed security efforts at the Mall of America and elsewhere did not deter Black Lives Matter protesters, who disrupted holiday shopping and travel on Wednesday to call attention to systemic racism and police brutality in Minneapolis and beyond.

After police at the mall threatened to arrest hundreds of peaceful protesters, Black Lives Matter activists moved their demonstration to nearby light rail trains and the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, according to local news outlets. Continue reading →

Protesting is not a crime

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Revealed: Police and FBI Spied On Black Lives Matter Organizers Ahead of Mall of America Protests

‘We will not be intimidated,’ declares Minneapolis chapter of Black Lives Matter

Written by Sarah Lazare, CommonDreams staff writer. Published February 13, 2015.

How big is MOA? Big enough to hold over 3,000 protesters! Image via Facebook.

Participants in a nonviolent Black Lives Matter protest at the Mall of America last December were not only aggressively confronted by law enforcement and heavily prosecuted by the Bloomington attorney’s office, but they were also—as it turns out—preemptively spied on by local police and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Continue reading →

MOA: Protests, Perceived Threats and Terrorism

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When world headlines hit close to home, Americans and their media have a tendency to view things from a myopic point of view and fail to grasp everything worth considering.

People fleeing Westgate Mall. Photo: blog.people.com

Most recently, the terrorist group al-Shabaab has directly threatened western malls, naming the Mall of America as one of the targets they wish to see attacked in the style of the Westgate Mall tragedy in Nairobi, Kenya in September, 2013.

The Westgate Mall was chosen by al-Shabaab because of its striking resemblance to western-style shopping malls across Europe and America. They now stage this threat against western malls because it is the most significant thing they are known to have accomplished, so they cling to that horror for legitimacy and as a way of getting their name back in the news when all the media attention lately has been focused on Daesh. Mall of America was named because it symbolizes American materialism and is located where there is a substantial Somalian population, which is targeted by al-Shabaab for recruitment of followers. Based on the coverage we saw during the time the story broke, we would say al-Shabaab feels quite victorious without having to even fire a shot. Continue reading →

Minnesota Dystopia

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On the Saturday before Christmas, over 3,000 people gathered at the nation’s largest shopping mall as part of the Black Lives Matter protests that were happening nationwide at the time. We wrote about the MOA protest and how the various local media outlets chose to cover it, and wondered what the aftermath would be.

Photo by Ben Kressel (@krevWon) via Twitter

Yesterday, the City of Bloomington charged ten of the organizers of the protest with between three and seven misdemeanors each, depending on their supposed role in the demonstration. The various charges include trespassing, public nuisance, disorderly conduct, and unlawful assembly. Each charge is punishable by a maximum of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Twenty five other people are expected to be charged, according to city officials. Continue reading →

‘TIs Always the Season for Intolerance

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By Gretschman for Occupy World Writes

A few evenings ago my wife and I went out to dinner. Our server was a pleasant young man who, by his actions and mannerisms, left very little doubt that he lives what many people would consider an “alternative” lifestyle. For the sake of this story, I shall call him “Jim”

Since we had gone out quite late for dinner, “Jim” was waiting on all of the few tables in our section that were occupied. Next to our table was a group of Somalians. These folks were eating their dinner when my wife and I were seated. After these folks at the next table were done with their meal and post dinner coffees, they started taking pictures by an open booth on the other side of us. Continue reading →

#BlackLivesMatter Protests At MOA

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Over 3000 protesters gathered in the Mall of America Saturday in support of the BlackLivesMatter movement. Image via Facebook.

Protestors filled the main floor rotunda of America’s largest shopping mall on Saturday as supporters within the mall raised their voices and joined them. The first chant started…

“No Justice, No Peace!”

We then heard a jubilant chorus fill the mall, clapping together and singing. We also heard “While you’re on your shopping spree, black people can not breathe…” Continue reading →