WASHINGTON — (CNN) Black Lives Matter protesters blocked a road Wednesday to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, bringing holiday travelers to a standstill in their vehicles.
Earlier in the day, scores of protesters assembled inside Minneapolis’ Mall of America, but police in riot gear and mall security officers dispersed the crowd, pushing them outside the shopping center.
Stores on the east side of the mall were closed Wednesday morning in expectation of the protest, two store managers told CNN. Customer traffic was also down Wednesday, they said.
Some of the dispersed protesters left the mall and boarded trains to the airport, CNN affiliate WCCO reported.
In response to the protests, the airport closed Terminal 2 checkpoints to prevent demonstrators “from gaining access to secure area,” the airport said on Twitter.
The airport also advised travelers to leave extra early because of the delays caused by protesters, the facility said on Twitter.
The activist group Black Lives Matter was planning demonstrations in six U.S cities on Wednesday, which it was calling “Black Xmas” and a national day of action.
The activists accuse police agencies nationwide of bias against the black community.
“Today, on one of the busiest days of the holiday season, black communities across the United States are taking brave actions to impede the flow of goods and commerce with peaceful protests to call for an immediate overhaul of the justice system both locally and nationally that will demand accountability for police, removal of grand juries in cases involving police shootings, an immediate halt to militarized police units and weapons, and extensive review of racialized police practices in black neighborhoods,” the group said.
The group was planning to block the U.S. Highway 101 exit to the San Francisco airport on Wednesday, CNN affiliate KGO reported.
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