Ten participants in the mass demonstration at the Mall of America in protest of police brutality were charged Wednesday for their roles in what Bloomington authorities say was an unlawful rally.

Authorities say the 10 organized the Dec. 20 gathering. They face an array of misdemeanor charges, including public nuisance, trespassing and disorderly conduct.

The large-scale demonstration drew between 1,500 and 2,000 people to the Mall of America rotunda in protest of recent grand jury decisions that cleared white police officers in the deaths of unarmed black men in Missouri and New York.

The protest lasted more than two hours on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Twenty-five other people arrested on the day of the protest are expected to be charged, Blomington authorities say.

Bloomington spent more than $25,000 on police overtime while the Mall of America paid more than $8,000 for additional security on the day of the rally, according to the charges.

“These charges are absurd,” Mica Grimm, one of those charged in connection with the protest, said in a statement Wednesday evening. “The implications of forcing protesters to pay for police presence they didn’t ask for sets a dangerous precedent that could potentially affect all citizens and negates the very rights afforded by the constitution to peacefully assemble.

“We will not let these charges silence us. Our message that Black Lives Matter is needed more than ever as just hours ago St. Paul police took the life of another black man under muddled circumstances. Every 28 hours a black person is killed by police or vigilantes,” Grimm said.

Mall of America officials had no comment Wednesday.

The Minneapolis Black Lives Matter organizers, who also led a demonstration that led to the closure of Interstate 35W near downtown Minneapolis, said in a news release that the arrests and charges were an attempt to undermine their rights and that they were “saddened” by the decision to use public resources to stop the protests.

Bloomington authorities said protesters had been warned they didn’t have permission to organize inside the mall.

The charges detail the efforts by Bloomington authorities in the days leading up to Dec. 20 to dissuade organizers from bringing protesters into the mall. Plainclothes police attended a public training session for protesters on Dec. 17, according to the charges.

Officials offered an alternative site for the rally, outside the mall at an adjacent lot. They noted that the mall is private property and has never allowed protests on its premises.

“To ensure the safety and experience of its guests, Mall of America has had a long-standing policy in place that does not allow protests or demonstrations on their site,” said a statement from Bloomington police. “This policy has been consistently enforced. The Black Lives Matter group was informed that it did not have permission to gather and demonstrate in Mall of America. An alternative location was provided, and rally organizers declined to re-locate the demonstration.”

About 80 stores inside the mall and several entrances were put on lockdown during the protest. The charges did not detail any injuries or property damage, but said some officers reported being spat upon from upper levels of the mall rotunda.

Several days after the protest, Lena Gardner of Black Lives Matter told the Associated Press that the mall’s financial losses were the fault of police, not protesters. Gardner said the mall could have chosen to welcome her group the same as its welcomed others to gather in its rotunda to raise awareness about various causes.

“We came to sing carols and raise awareness,” she said at the time. “The Bloomington police are the ones who shut down the mall, not us.”

Bloomington City Attorney Sandra Johnson was not available for comment Wednesday.

Deputy Police Chief Rick Hart said the court would determine whether monetary restitution is paid by the protesters.

Hart would not comment on the charges other than to say that “it is in the hands of the court.”

As to why the charges were brought, Hart noted that Johnson recently cited a 1999 state Supreme Court decision that found the Mall of America is private property where free speech protection does not apply.

“I don’t want to get into the nuts and bolts or the weeds of this case,” Hart said. “It’s out of our hands at this point. We did an investigation, we submitted it to the city attorney and they submitted it to the court … and now it’s up to the court to decide.”

The Supreme Court case began when four animal-rights activists were arrested at the mall on May 19, 1996, after they stood in a second-floor courtyard area in front of Macy’s department store and passed out literature opposing fur garments.

The 10 charged in the Black Lives Matter protest are: Michael Anthony McDowell, 21, of Minneapolis; Mica Lauren Grimm, 24, of Duluth, Minn.; Kandace Leanna Montgomery, 24, of Minneapolis; Catherine Claire Salonek, 26, of Minneapolis; Todd Allan Dahlstrom, 49, of St. Paul; Adja Sara Gildersleve, 26, of Minneapolis; Shannon Lee Bade, 45, of Minneapolis; Jie Rose Wronski-Riley, 18, of Minneapolis; Amity Lebaube Foster, 38, of Minneapolis; and Nekima Levy-Pounds, 38, of Brooklyn Park.

St. Paul NAACP president Jeff Martin said his organization will send a letter to the Bloomington city attorney’s office this week, asking it to consider options other than charging organizers.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota issued a statement condemning the charges:

“It is unfortunate that the Bloomington city attorney has chosen to focus so much time, energy, and taxpayer resources to pursue vengeance for a peaceful gathering on these important issues. Rather than joining the dialogue that has arisen from this national movement, the city has instead chosen to try and silence those who are speaking out.”

Tom Webb and Mara H. Gottfried contributed to this report.