Holiday shoppers were greeted by police in riot gear at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota Saturday as the group 'Black Lives Matter' staged a protest over the recent deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police in Missouri and New York.

According to the groups' Facebook page, an estimated 3000 people planned to attend the protest. The group gathered in the rotunda and began several rounds of chants including, “No justice, no shopping,” “Hands up, don’t shoot,” and “While you’re on your shopping spree, black people can’t breathe.”

For the safety of shoppers, the mall closed its north and east entrances, locking people inside stores.

The MOA protest is one of several being held across the country. A demonstration in Milwaukee Friday night ended with at least 74 arrests. And also on Saturday about 100 protesters from Ferguson, Missouri, joined activists in Cleveland, where a 12-year-old boy was killed by police, holding what turned out to be a toy air gun. Protests were also scheduled for New York City, Los Angeles and other major U.S. cities.

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