MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The latest developments on a planned Black Lives Matter protest at the Mall of America (all times local):
12:30 p.m.
Special staff members are stationed at every Mall of America entrance ahead of a protest expected to draw hundreds of people to the massive mall in suburban Minneapolis.
Black Lives Matter organizers say the Wednesday rally is meant to pressure authorities to release footage of a black man who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police last month.
Specialized event staff members were searching guests’ bags at every entrance of the nation’s largest mall an hour ahead of the expected protest. Mall security guards have also cordoned off parts of a central mall rotunda.