Mall of America partially shut down as hundreds protest

[OpinionInOcala]

Originally Posted by vision33r

Next protest: We need police in our neighborhoods! They only work in white neighborhoods.

Heh, that's what they were saying in some areas within the county I live in. Then of course once the police presence and arrest rates were increased those same communities screamed racism from the rooftops. Law enforcement would then back off for PR reasons and wait for the cycle to repeat itself. It's just ridiculous.

[68551]

Originally Posted by Opin_Yunated

Reread what you said slowly.

They have EVERY right to assemble on public property. Why do you hate the constitution so much?

Misspoke...Thanks for the correction!! I meant to say that protestors do not have a RIGHT to protest on PRIVATE PROPERTY....OOPS!!!

[don1945]

Originally Posted by vision33r

Demonstrating on private commercial property and in the way of shoppers is not gonna win you sympathy. All it does is reinforce stereotypes and bigotry.

Bingo, bingo, bingo ! If these "protestors" think they have furthered their cause or somehow influenced people to change their thinking, they are only right on the second count. People HAVE changed their thinking and it is not positive as far as how we feel about these people right now.

Anyone who thinks relations between the two ethnic groups is not worse now than it was a few months ago has their head in the sand...........or perhaps in a much darker place than that. I know I look at people of color less positively than I did before all this nonsense, and I bet a lot of other people feel the same. It is unfortunate that even good black people have had their image tarnished by the idiots who are behaving like animals. If you think that hasn't happened you are very wrong.

Don

[2nd trick op]

Every fool who participated in the protests and "die-ins' is an accessory to what happened in Brooklyn this weekend -- not in the classic sense, of course, but the greater the "orchestrated outrage", the more mayhem is encouraged, and the greater the number of hot-heads who will come out.

Perhaps the younger people lured into this exercise should examine their conscience, but I doubt that many will.

[jessxwrites89]

Originally Posted by don1945

Bingo, bingo, bingo ! If these "protestors" think they have furthered their cause or somehow influenced people to change their thinking, they are only right on the second count. People HAVE changed their thinking and it is not positive as far as how we feel about these people right now.

Anyone who thinks relations between the two ethnic groups is not worse now than it was a few months ago has their head in the sand...........or perhaps in a much darker place than that. I know I look at people of color less positively than I did before all this nonsense, and I bet a lot of other people feel the same. It is unfortunate that even good black people have had their image tarnished by the idiots who are behaving like animals. If you think that hasn't happened you are very wrong.

Don

Bingo! And then people fail seeing points of why people oppose these things. I had someone fight with me on my blog.

[ChicagoMeO]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

foolish ideas

you can't go shooting a water cannon indoors for reasons that would be obvious to even the most inexperienced facilty manager

Well then i guess they will have to tase people inside.

but a lot of those looters and protestors and anarchists could well be hit with a water canon, espeically now that its getting cold,, they can become Frosty the Snowmen

you guys must think im kidding but i am not! i'm sick of the ones causiing trouble.. and even the "good" protestors are not any better. they are assocaition by guilt,,,

[mkpunk]

Originally Posted by 2nd trick op

Every fool who participated in the protests and "die-ins' is an accessory to what happened in Brooklyn this weekend -- not in the classic sense, of course, but the greater the "orchestrated outrage", the more mayhem is encouraged, and the greater the number of hot-heads who will come out.

Perhaps the younger people lured into this exercise should examine their conscience, but I doubt that many will.

The problem is that the cop killer took the Stokley Carmichael view rather than the MLK way that most people took to during the initial protests. These protests are mostly nonviolent and at times get disruptive.

[Atalanta]

Charges Expected To Be Filed Against MOA Protest Organizers « CBS Minnesota

BLOOMINGTON (WCCO) — In the next few days, the Bloomington City Attorney Sandra Johnson expects to file criminal charges against the organizers of Saturday’s protest at Mall of America.

The mall went into a partial shutdown for about two hours as thousands of protesters filled the rotunda on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. The group, “Black Lives Matter” chose the mall for its high visibility, but was warned repeatedly that it was private property.

Mall officials are reportedly gathering estimates of how much money the stores lost on Saturday.

Combined with the amount of overtime put in by police, Johnson said the numbers will be “staggering,” and she wants the protest organizers to pay.

The moment the chanting started Saturday, officers locked down about 80 stores and several mall entrances. In and around the rotunda, business came to a halt for about two hours.

Nate Bash works at one store near the rotunda, which he didn’t want us to name.

“You had people yelling and screaming inside the mall that wanted out and you had people yelling and screaming outside the mall that wanted in,” he said. “I would say the mall was less than half as busy as it should have been considering what day it was.”

“This was a powder keg just waiting for a match,” said Johnson.

The City Attorney is now building criminal cases against the protest organizers. She said she’ll try to get restitution for money lost by the mall, the city and police agencies that came from as far away as Hastings and Red Wing.

“The main perpetrators are those who continued on their Facebook site to invite people illegally to the Mall of America,” she said.

Police are looking at the group’s social media posts, as well as video from inside the mall.

“Who led that march through the Mall of America?” said Johnson. “If we can identify those people who were inciting others to continue with this illegal activity, we can consider charges against them too.”

Lena K. Gardner of the group “Black Lives Matter” said several groups, including several faith leaders, took part in organizing Saturday’s protest.

Gardner said the financial losses are not the fault of protesters.

“We came to sing carols and raise awareness,” she said, “and the Bloomington police are the ones who shut down the mall, not us.”

Gardner compared it to December of last year, when thousands gathered in the rotunda to sing a song (Thousands Gather To Honor Zach Sobiech « CBS Minnesota) written by a young man who died of cancer, Zach Sobiech.

She said that group was raising awareness of cancer, and the mall allowed it. She thinks the mall should’ve been as welcoming to Saturday’s group and its message.

No injuries or property damage were reported from Saturday’s protest.

[gg]

All start with some idiot that robbed a store using his massive body against some little store clerk. Then he walked down the middle of the street and a cop asked him to get out of the middle of the road. He told the cop to f off and it escalated to the robber reaching into the squad car and going for the officer's gun and it goes off and hits the loser's hand. He ends up getting shot, which is pretty normal considering he went for an officer's gun. Someone usually dies, either of cop or the criminal. In this case the criminal dies. Now people protest that? Really? What a joke! The US is falling for media hype that is for sure. Just look at the facts. Michael Brown was a thug, plain and simple. He went for a cop's gun. Once you do that, you are going to be shot or going to be a cop killer. Take you pick. Now morons are protesting? lol

[Serious Conversation]

I don't understand what good it does at all to protest in a mall and disrupt shoppers and employees who had absolutely nothing to do with the incident.