By John Reinan

Minneapolis Star Tribune

BLOOMINTON — On a night when the Bloomington City Council passed a proclamation honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., council members were urged to live up to King’s vision of justice.

About 100 people packed the council chamber Monday night, many of them urging leniency for leaders of Black Lives Matter, the local group that organized a pre-Christmas protest at the Mall of America on the heels of nationally publicized incidents involving the deaths of young black men in confrontations with police.

One by one, speakers asked city officials not to single out protest organizers for prosecution.

“I’m here to request that if the city chooses to charge other people associated with that demonstration, that they charge me, too,” said Karen Wills, who attended the mall protest with her daughter.

“This is a moment in history,” said Lena K. Gardner of Black Lives Matter. “Earlier tonight, this body honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This body has an opportunity right now. You can choose the side of justice, or you can choose order. And you can choose to re-enmesh a system that is killing people.”

Twenty-five protesters were arrested at the Dec. 20 demonstration and were released after being charged with various misdemeanors. However, Bloomington City Attorney Sandra Johnson said she plans to file additional charges against “ringleaders” of the protest, in order to deter similar demonstrations.

Johnson also said she plans to seek restitution for the costs of 250 police at the event and lost sales during the two to three hours when more than 75 stores in the mall were closed.

Johnson told protesters at Monday’s meeting that failing to hold mall demonstrators legally accountable for their actions would land the city on a slippery slope of selective justice.

“The city prosecutor’s role does not have the luxury of selectively prosecuting cases that come before us,” Johnson said. “We cannot let politics or public opinion interfere with prosecutorial discretion.”

Johnson added: “There is a cost to civil disobedience.” Her job, she said, is to turn suspected lawbreakers over to the criminal justice system, “which will treat them with dignity and respect.”

—Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC