A Minneapolis judge said late Tuesday that the Mall of America can legally stop three Black Lives Matter leaders from protesting at the mall on Wednesday. However, Hennepin County Judge Karen Janisch rejected the mall's request to force Black Lives Matter leaders to post social media messages cancelling the event and also rejected the temporary restraining order against the "unincorporated entity known as Black Lives Matter Minneapolis," according to MPR News.
The Mall of America, the largest mall in the United States, had taken legal action to try to prevent Black Lives Matter protesters from demonstrating at the mall on the day before Christmas Eve, one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
The Mall of America asked Janisch to block the protest, saying it lacks permission from the mall. The mall also asked for a temporary restraining order against eight Black Lives Matter protesters to prevent them from staging the protest and asked the court to order the protesters to post messages on their social media accounts informing supporters that the event has been cancelled, reported The Associated Press.
Black Lives Matters hopes to gather at the mall and protest the death of Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old black man who was shot by Minneapolis police on Nov. 15 and died the next day. Law enforcement officials say Clark attempted to grab an officer's gun, but eyewitnesses insist Clark was handcuffed when shot
The protesters said that the only way they will cancel the demonstration is if "authorities release the tapes related to Jamar Clark's case, prosecute police without a grand jury by special prosecutor, and bring federal terrorism charges against white supremacists who shot five protesters during the occupation," according to RT. Officials have declined to release video while state and federal investigations are active.
Susan Gaertner, a lawyer for Mall of America, said that that while the protesters have a good cause, the mall has a right to prohibit protests on its private property. "Mall of America supports BLM's First Amendment right to free expression, but courts have clearly ruled that right may not be exercised on private property without the consent of the property owner," the mall's attorney wrote. "This is not about free speech. This is not about whether or not these folks have a good cause. This [is] about where you demonstrate, and you demonstrate in places like this - in a courthouse. Mall of America on Wednesday is a place to take your kids and shop."
On Dec. 20, 2014, some 1,800 angry protesters virtually shut down large areas of the mall in order to highlight police killings of unarmed men in Ferguson, Mo., and New York City. The mall says sales on that day were 15 percent lower than in previous years.
