A judge ordered that three specific Black Lives Matter organizers may not enter the premise during today’s planned protest at the Mall of America, but she stopped short of signing a temporary restraining order blocking the entire group from attending.
Yesterday’s ruling from Hennepin County judge Karen Janisch played out as expected for many in the legal community. Janisch ruled that three organizers of the protest could not attend, but she stated that the court did not have the power to stop unnamed members from attending because Black Lives Matter is not a legally recognized organization. The judge also denied the mall’s request that group organizers take down social media posts and announcements about the rally.
The rally was announced late last week, and organizers hope to use one of the biggest shopping days of the year as a platform to call attention to police killings of unarmed black men, specifically the recent incident involving Jamar Clark in Minneapolis. They organized a similar protest around the same time last year, which ended in charges being filed against 35 individuals, although those charges were eventually dropped.
Mall’s Bid Falls Short
The first amendment requires that in order for the court to block a planned organization or protest, there needs to exist a pressing need and speech that will likely incite legal action. Essentially, only speech that will likely incite a riot may be blocked by a court, and Judge Janisch did not believe such threat existed.
The mall stated that last year’s protest resulted in irreversible harm, both economically and reputational, as nearly 80 stores needed to close during the protest and data suggests fewer customers visited the mall, which all led to decreased sales. The mall also cited Hennepin County judge Pater A Cahill, who wrote that while last year’s protest went on without violence, “the specter of such possible outcomes remains a legitimate (and omnipresent) concern” for everyone involved.
How Will Today’s Protest Play Out?
Nobody can really predict how today’s protest will play out, but everyone hopes that it doesn’t end in violence. The BLM group will probably be pretty large in size, but the mall will also be more prepared than last year. Hopefully both sides give a little and can find a middle ground.
It would be nice for the BLM movement to be able to peacefully share their concerns, but we’re also looking at a situation where we’re playing with matches inside a fireworks store. Odds are there are members of the mall’s security team that look down on the BLM movement with contempt, while there’s more than likely a few BLM protesters with significant levels of disdain for authority figures. Hopefully cooler heads can prevail, and I truly believe this protest will go on without violence, but like Judge Cahill said, violence remains a legitimate concern. Should these two groups clash, and things get physical, to use a seasonal quote, things could snowball out of control.
Please, lets not mar the holiday season with violence.
