Black Lives Matter plans protest at Mall of America

The Minneapolis chapter of Black Lives Matter announced Thursday that it will hold a demonstration at the Mall of America on Wednesday if authorities don't meet demands related to the November shooting of Jamar Clark.

Clark, 24, died after being shot by Minneapolis police Nov. 15. Witnesses have said Clark, an unarmed black man, was handcuffed when he was shot. Police have said there was a struggle and Clark reached for an officer's gun. His death ignited weeks of protest outside the Fourth Precinct police station in north Minneapolis.

"Although they destroyed our occupation, they will not destroy our spirits," Black Lives Matter Minneapolis posted on Facebook. "If we don't get justice for Jamar Clark and Black Minnesotans, we will return to the Mall of America."

The group protested at the mall last year on one of its busiest shopping days. Police officers in riot gear arrested dozens of people who flooded the shopping center's rotunda, which prompted the mall to temporarily close some stores.

Multiple people were later charged with misdemeanor counts of aiding and abetting trespass. Last month, a Hennepin County judge dismissed charges against 11 organizers of that protest, while keeping in place trespass charges against 17 individual protesters.

Following Clark's death, protesters have called on authorities to release video of the shooting and prosecute the officers without presenting the case to a grand jury. They have also demanded that authorities bring federal terrorism charges against men accused of shooting five protesters near the encampment at the North Side police precinct.

Authorities have said releasing any videos of the encounter could compromise the investigation.

The mall's attorney, Susan Gaertner, said Hennepin County Chief Judge Peter Cahill's order noted that the mall is private property and can ban protests.

"The Mall of America will continue to prohibit protests on its property no matter how righteous the cause is," she said.

Black Lives Matter Minneapolis is also planning a separate rally for noon Saturday, with protesters marching to Government Plaza in downtown Minneapolis from the Fourth Precinct police station, just blocks from where Clark was shot.

Libor Jany • 612-673-4064 Twitter: @StribJany