I have a trip into MSP in October. I was not planning to go to the MOA, but I think I will plan to go now.

Just so I can cancel it.

MOA is turning the information over to the FBI. I listened to the NPR segment on this last night. The FBI is creating lists from this data and investigating people who were reported. Last night they played an interview with a man whose elderly father had left his cell phone in the food court. The FBI went to the son's house to interrogate him about whether he was part of a terrorist plot. Probably because they have a foreign sounding (i.e. possibly middle eastern) name.

I don't really care what MOA does. They won't get my business, but they're a private entity. But DHS is encouraging these actions (see something, say something). And the federal government is actively investigating people for such benign behavior as forgetting their cell phones or taking photos of a tourist attraction, instead of telling the overzealous, anxious people who work at MOA to go pound sand.

Trust me: you ain't missing much.

Mall Cops: Mall of America -- TV Review



There's a notion, perpetuated by films and comic strips, that mall security personnel are the Barney Fifes of law enforcement, exercising serious police muscles over the most minor infractions.

Now we get the lowdown. Here comes "Mall Cops: Mall of America," a half-hour reality series shot at Minnesota's famous and gigantic Mall of America and, well, that silly stereotype turns out to be pretty much the case.

Ouch!

Well, they start questioning me for no reason and they may be getting a little note from my lawyer. Spouse works law enforcement, they have no right to question someone for no apparent reason. Steal a t-shirt yes, act suspicious yes, break the law yes. Shop in the mall? No.

The federal government in particular -- in cahoots with even state and local government employees -- has been doing a lot of creative things to circumvent federal law, even circumvent various elements of the US Constitution that articulates the rights of the people.

Federal government partnerships with the private sector have been taken on to do all sorts of evasion around restrictions or requirements placed on the federal government.

Federal government partnerships with foreign governments or foreign corporations have been taken on to do all sorts of evasion around restrictions or requirements placed on the federal government.

Federal government partnerships with domestic corporations or individuals have been taken on to do all sorts of evasion around restrictions or requirements placed on the federal government.

Then there is what the federal government does itself by off-shoring/outsourcing personnel and/or activities.

The federal government loves the "see something, say something" program -- it enables a more massive monitoring of even US persons who have violated no law and are unlikely to be lawfully subject to police authority under an applied standard of reasonable suspicion or probable cause applicable to LEOs well within the US.

The MOA is but one of many places where this kind of thing is occurring.

You would think that they would want to tighten the grip they have on customers.

I would temper this a bit and say that as employees of a private company, they're allowed to ask questions, but not to require answers and certainly not to detain anyone or demand identification (suspected shoplifters notwithstanding). Basically, their only recourse should a customer decline to answer their questions would be to ask them to leave the mall. Refusal to do so could be met with a trespassing warning from the real police, but that should be the end of it. The fact that the Bloomington Police are sometimes holding these folks in a substation in the mall for hours, interrogating them, and seizing their property is ridiculous and warrants a lawsuit.

Is the MOA still a major destination for foreign shoppers?

I have no idea. Personally, I would not sit in an aluminum tube for 16+ hours just to go to a mall, but if I was in MSP for some other reason I would probably stop in at the mall.

I've stayed in airport hotels around MSP where the shuttle will stop by the mall to pick up and drop off guests on the way to the terminal. A few times I've noticed folks speaking languages other than English.


That picture I posted above? Admit it, you secretly want the chick in the center to slap the cuffs on you.

DL's Asian based FA's bid on NRT-MSP flights and travel with empty bags specifically to visit MoA.

Probably thought they were some TSOs that he had just seen at the airport.

As a former resident of Minnesota, let me make it clear that there is absolutely, positively no reason to go to the MoA, unless you like scuzzy, oversized malls (Okay, the Rybnicki cheese store is good.). Yes, there is an overpriced "amusement park (a few rides)" in the middle, but other than that, it is like every other mall in America. It has all the same stores, just a couple of them. All the same food court restaurants. All the same sticky bathrooms. It has absolutely nothing going for it except that it is big.

Mike

I think Rosedale is much nicer than MOA and alot less hassle too.