I'm surprised there isn't a thread about this already, but I searched "Jamar Clark" and "Minneapolis protest" and couldn't find one.
First, some background:
How Did Jamar Clark Die? - The Atlantic
Jamar Clark: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know - Heavy
Which brings us to last night:
The Daily Beast, which links out to Minneapolis Star Tribune
First, some background:
How did Jamar Clark end up with a bullet hole above his eye?
The 24-year-old black man was shot by a Minneapolis police officer early Sunday morning under unclear circumstances. His family says he was taken off life support Monday, and died that evening.
Whats agreed on is that Clark was shot by an officer after police and ambulances responded to a domestic-violence call. Police said Clark was a suspect in the domestic assault, and interfered with responders. From there, things get murky. A number of people watched the incident unfoldit was across the street from an Elks Lodgeand several of them say that Clark was handcuffed when he was shot in the head. Police insist he was not cuffed.
The young man was just laying there; he was not resisting arrest, a man named Teto Wilson who said he saw the incident was quoted as saying by the local NAACP chapter. Two officers were surrounding the victim on the ground, an officer maneuvered his body around to shield Jamars body, and I heard the shot go off.
The states Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the states top investigative agency, has taken over the case, and Mayor Betsy Hodges also requested an investigation by the Department of Justices Civil Rights Division. NAACP leaders welcomed that request, saying they didnt trust local law-enforcement to investigate itself.
Black Lives Matters protestors have been out in force in Minneapolis since Clark was shot. On Monday night, a group staged a demonstration on Interstate 94, bringing traffic to a halt. Police arrested 51 people before the highway reopened. Activists also rallied outside the police precinct close to where Clark was shot. They have demanded that police release video of the shooting. Authorities, meanwhile, initially wouldnt even say if there was footage, either from dashboard cameras or from body cameras. (A September report by a city police-oversight commission recommended that body cameras be activated during all community contact.) Bystander footage from shortly after the shooting is available. On Tuesday, the BCA said it has obtained several videos but that none captured the event in its entirety.
[Superintendent Drew] Evans said the videos came from the ambulance, a public housing building, cellphones of bystanders and a police mobile video station. There is no video from any police squad car or officer body cameras. The BCA is in the process of working with the nearby Elks Club lodge to examine its exterior video.
But Evans also said that no images will be released until after the investigation is completewhich could mean months.
How Did Jamar Clark Die? - The Atlantic
1. Witnesses Say Clark Was Handcuffed When Police Shot Him in the Head Execution Style
The incident began early Sunday morning when police were called to James and Plymouth avenues in Minneapolis for a report of a domestic dispute involving Jamar Clark and his girlfriend.
Police say Clark was interfering as EMTs tried to get his girlfriend into an ambulance, and a struggle then began. During that struggle, according to police, Clark was shot by an officer.
Witnesses say Clark was handcuffed and knocked to the ground before he was shot, the NAACP says. Police have denied claims that Clark was handcuffed before the shooting, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
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2. Clark Was Taken to the Hospital & Was on Life Support Until Monday Evening
Police said Clark was taken to a local hospital where he was placed on life support until Monday evening.
Relatives, including Clarks sisters, gathered at Hennepin County Medical Center, in the seventh-floor intensive-care unit Sunday afternoon. They told the Star-Tribune a physician told them Clark was brain dead when he arrived.
From witness accounts, Jamar Clark was handcuffed and then shot in the head in front of dozens of witnesses, Minneapolis NAACP President Nekima Levy-Pounds said Monday morning, according to City Pages. Police essentially threw a corpse in the back of an ambulance, and put him on life support at the hospital. They pulled guns on witnesses and sprayed them with mace. They waited 45 minutes before asking people what had happened there. This is one of the worst examples of what weve seen, recently, with the execution of unarmed black men.
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3. Protesters Have Gathered at the Police Precinct Near the Shooting
Protesters gathered at the intersection where the shooting happened on Sunday, and then marched to the police departments 4th Precinct in North Minneapolis..
Led by the local NAACP and Black Lives Matter, a group has taken over the outside and lobby area of the precinct. Police also gathered at the scene Sunday night.
Protesters have said they are willing to stay at the precinct as long as it takes to get justice and have their demands met.
According to a Facebook post, they are demanding five things. They want to see footage from the incident, they want an independent investigation (not by another police agency), they want the media to cover eye-witness testimony (not just the polices point of view), they want full community oversight with full disciplinary power and they want officers to live in the communities they serve.
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4. Two Officers Are on Paid Leave as the Shooting Investigated by a State Agency
Police said the officers, Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze, have been placed on paid leave, KARE-TV reports.
The shooting is being investigated by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is part of the state Department of Public Safety.
I want to acknowledge that this is a very difficult situation for everyone involved: For members of our community, members of the Minneapolis Police Department and their families, and for the people that are standing here beside me, Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau said. We need to know exactly what happened. We need to know the truth. Everyone involved needs that and deserves that.
The local police union said president, Lt. Bob Kroll, told Fox News 9, Weve got confidence in the BCA. Our officers are cooperating with the process. We want people to remain calm. Let the investigation be completed. I am confident in the end, our officers actions will be justified.
5. Its Not Known if the Shooting Was Caught on Video
Police said there are no videos that show all of the incident. Video was captured from the Elks Lodge, located near the scene, and a nearby public housing complex, but it is incomplete.
The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has said it will not release the video while the investigation is ongoing, despite pleas from protesters and Clarks family for them to do so.
The officers were not wearing body cameras and the shooting was not recorded on dashboard cameras, police said.
Jamar Clark: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know - Heavy
Which brings us to last night:
Tensions escalated between demonstrators and Minneapolis police Wednesday night, when both officers and protesters deployed a chemical irritant amid clashes. Protests at a makeshift encampment near a police precinct continued into the night after police named two officers involved in the death of Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man shot Sunday. Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze were identified as the officers involved in the shooting. Police said they used a chemical irritant to control the crowd, but protesters allegedly responded by deploying a chemical spray at officers, said police spokesman John Elder. Several officers sustained minor injuries after rocks and water bottles were thrown. Clark was shot in the head during a reported confrontation with police officers, but some witnesses allege he wasnt struggling and was handcuffed during the incident.
The Daily Beast, which links out to Minneapolis Star Tribune
