Back on December 20th there was a "Black Lives Matter" protest at the Mall of America shopping mall in Bloomington, Minnesota. Before the protest the police and city of Bloomington told the protestors they would not be allowed to protest because they didn't have a permit, and besides the mall is private property. In essence, they would be trespassing.
The protesters forged ahead, the mall was disrupted and 11 people were arrested. The "faith community" in the Twin Cities took up the cause of the protesters and requested that all charges be dropped. Yesterday the Bloomington city attorney, Sandra Johnson, would not back down, seeking to prosecute and responded thusly,
“While I respect your point of view on the issues of social and racial injustice, I must decline your proposed remedy,” Johnson wrote. “I will continue to uphold the law — without fear or favor.”
“First and foremost, the criminal justice system must look at conduct, not the content of the message behind the illegal conduct,” it said. “To approach protest or demonstration cases any other way would result in viewpoint discrimination based on the popularity of the message with the community."
The protesters forged ahead, the mall was disrupted and 11 people were arrested. The "faith community" in the Twin Cities took up the cause of the protesters and requested that all charges be dropped. Yesterday the Bloomington city attorney, Sandra Johnson, would not back down, seeking to prosecute and responded thusly,
“While I respect your point of view on the issues of social and racial injustice, I must decline your proposed remedy,” Johnson wrote. “I will continue to uphold the law — without fear or favor.”
“First and foremost, the criminal justice system must look at conduct, not the content of the message behind the illegal conduct,” it said. “To approach protest or demonstration cases any other way would result in viewpoint discrimination based on the popularity of the message with the community."
