The disruption was carried out one of the most productive days in pre-Christmas retail
In a mass demonstration spanning over several hours, the protestors in Minnesota, California forced authorities to close down the Mall of America and the International Airport there temporarily. The Black Lives Matter organization was protesting against the shooting of an innocent black man, Jamar Clark, in Minneapolis last month, when police officers killed him while taking action on an assault complaint. This is only one out of a string of such incidents that have occurred in the last year or so in the USA.
As hundreds of demonstrators took part in this showdown at one of the largest malls in North america, police said that they have arrested 15 people responsible for the attack, majorly on charge of tresspassing and obstructing justice. Meanwhile, a Judge’s warning that the protests could face legal repurcussions from the mall’s owners further aggravated the demonstrators. Although police forces and mall security teams were immediately put into action, threatening to take anyone who didn’t leave instantly into custody, the area around the mall was in lockdown and most of the stores were kept shut for at least an hour.
The protesters were seen holding placards condemning the killing of Mario Woods, a man who allegedly partcipated in a San Francisco stabbing. On the other hand, there were reports of around 8 demonstrators holding up southbound traffic on 101 freeway near the airport. Black Lives Matter, a mediocrely organised group, has been protesting use of force against black men across thecountry since last year, when there were killings of black men in Missouri, New York and other places. Calling them instances of extremist racism, African Americans have been targets very often.
With protests comes counter-action and many such protests have proved to end on a violent note. At the demonstartions in the Mall of America, police had called the situation a ‘very,very dangerour’ one. At the same time, the number of incidents are growing; police have also started mistaking some South Asian ethnic groups as African Americans. The American government must pro-actiely try to curb such incidents.
Source: BBC
