US | Tue Dec 22, 2015 6:49pm EST

Judge blocks three Black Lives Matter leaders from Minnesota mall protest

MINNEAPOLIS

Three leaders of a loosely organized Black Lives Matter group have been barred from a protest planned for Wednesday at the Mall of America in suburban Minneapolis, a judge ruled.

The order, which does not extend to the group itself or to unnamed people, "should not be interpreted as authorizing or permitting others to engage in political demonstration at the Mall of America without the express permission of the Mall of America," Hennepin County Judge Karen Janisch wrote.

Black Lives Matter Minneapolis has said the protest over the fatal shooting of a black man by a Minneapolis police officer in November would go forward regardless of the judge's ruling.

The mall sought a restraining order after the group said last week it planned a return protest at the mall, where about 1,500 people protested last December over the deaths of black men in police-involved incidents in New York and Missouri. About two dozen people were arrested in that protest.

Last year's protest was the last Saturday before Christmas and Wednesday's is set for the last full shopping day before the holiday.

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