Black Lives Matter protest snarls Minneapolis-St. Paul airport

MINNEAPOLIS — Several hundred Black Lives Matter activists shut down at least one terminal at the Minneapolis-St.Paul International airport Wednesday for about two hours in an afternoon of protest that began miles away at the huge Mall of America.

A total of 15 people were arrested at both sites, mostly for trespassing or obstruction of justice, police said. No injuries or property damage were reported.

The protesters not only disrupted rail traffic to the terminals, they blocked the freeway in front of the airport, snarling holiday traffic on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

The protest was aimed at drawing attention to the police shooting last month of Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old black Minneapolis man. Clark died one day after he was shot by officers responding to a complaint of an assault.

Most of the protesters came to Terminals 1 and 2 by light rail from the initial demonstration at the mall in suburban Bloomington.

In anticipation of demonstrations at the mall, several stores, including a Starbucks and a Barnes and Noble, were closed around the central rotunda. Barricades were also erected on several levels nearby.

As protesters began assembling, the mall announced that the demonstration was unlawful and asked the activists to leave the grounds. Signs had advised visitors that many shops would be closed temporarily during the early afternoon, when the protests were scheduled.

As police urged onlookers out of the rotunda, threatening arrests, many protesters abruptly filed outside, toward a light-rail station. Many chanted "What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!"

Many then went by light-rail to the airport, where they renewed their demonstration. Some got into pushing and shoving matches with police and airport security. Heavily armed police, trying to stem the arrival of protesters, eventually assembled at the rail arrival platform to keep people from entering the terminal.

Trains were eventually prevented from stopping at the terminals. After more than an hour, as the protest dwindled, police then had to deal with protesters who left the airport to return to the privately owned and operated mall, which includes an amusement park and more than 500 shops on four floors.

A judge on Tuesday ordered three organizers of the black activist movement not to attend the protest but said she did not have the power to block unidentified protesters associated with the group from showing up.

Gov. Mark Dayton said Wednesday that 30 Minnesota State Patrol officers would be on hand in Bloomington at the request of the local police department.

Dayton told reporters that he sympathizes with protesters' concerns, but he stressed that the mall is private property.

Protesters, some wearing shirts scrawled with the slogan "Black Lives Matters" gathered at the mall in the afternoon. Some had their mouths taped shut in a silent protest.

A similar protest at the mall last year drew as many as 3,000 people and disrupted one of the busiest shopping days of the year, the Star Tribune reports.

Kandace Montgomery, one of three organizers barred by the judge's order, said the group isn't deterred by the ban, the Associated Press reported.

She had declined to say if she or her fellow organizers still planned to go to the mall, but she said she expected at least 700 people to show up — including some who were prepared to be arrested.

Montgomery said the popular retail center is the perfect venue for their demonstration to pressure authorities involved in the investigation of Clark's death to release video footage.

"When you disrupt their flow of capital ... they actually start paying attention," she said. "That's the only way that they'll hear us."