Police-brutality protesters rally at mall
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Demonstrators chanting, “Black lives matter,” converged in the Mall of America rotunda Saturday as part of a protest of police brutality that caused at least part of the mall to shut down on a busy day for holiday shoppers.
The group Black Lives Matter Minneapolis had more than 3,000 people confirm on Facebook that they would attend. Official attendance figures weren’t immediately available, but pictures posted to social media by local news organizations showed the rotunda was full.
The Mall of America increased security, and police in riot gear were present. WCCO-AM reported that stores were closed for a short time, and signs were posted at some entrances advising shoppers that the east side of the mall was on lockdown.
After a final warning to disperse about 30 minutes after the protest began, police in riot gear began clearing the rotunda, the Star Tribune reported. A large group of protesters began leaving the mall, but others migrated to a shopping area and occupied two levels.
About an hour later, organizers sent out a group-text message advising those who were still inside to exit. There were no immediate reports of any official arrests, but local media posted on Twitter that a few people were being escorted away by police.
Obama in Hawaii for family getaway
KAILUA, Hawaii – A tumultuous year all but behind him, President Barack Obama set off for his annual winter getaway in Hawaii hoping for one thing: Quiet.
Air Force One touched down late in the evening at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, with the president, first lady Michelle Obama, their daughters and two dogs on board. On Saturday, the family was to begin their roughly two-week retreat from the hubbub in Washington on the lush island of Oahu.
Vacationing in Hawaii, where the president was born and spent much of his childhood, has been a tradition every year that Obama has been in the White House. This year, the trip comes as Obama closes out a chaotic sixth year in office on something of a high note.
Lofty aspirations to overhaul immigration laws, early childhood education and U.S. wages were scuttled by stubborn opposition to Obama’s agenda in Congress; and on his watch, Democrats took a drubbing in the midterm elections that will relegate them to the minority in Congress for Obama’s last two years. Crises erupted in Ukraine, the Middle East and West Africa, diverting Obama’s attention time and again.
GOP to back ‘Interview’ if it shows
WASHINGTON – The GOP is calling on supporters to buy a ticket to the movie “The Interview” if theater owners reverse their decision not to show the film amid threats of retaliation for its comedic take on assassinating North Korea’s leader.
The Republican Party chairman, Reince Priebus, says in a letter to theater chain executives that he’s concerned that a foreign regime would be allowed to dictate the movies Americans can and cannot watch.
Noting that Hollywood and the GOP have had their differences, Priebus says the situation with “The Interview” is about freedom and free enterprise.
Priebus says he will ask Republican supporters to buy tickets “to show North Korea we cannot be bullied into giving up our freedom” and suggests part of the proceeds go to military charities.
Associated Press
