The Minnesota Department of Public Safety said Minneapolis Police
Department Officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze were
involved in the shooting of Jamar Clark, 24, Sunday.
Both men have been police officers for seven years, including 13
months with the city. The officers, whose race was not disclosed,
are on administrative leave during an investigation.
Clark is the latest in a series of unarmed black people to be killed
at the hands of police in the United States over the past several
years, fueling protests nationwide and rekindling a national civil
rights movement.
Attempts by Reuters to reach the officers for comment were
unsuccessful on Wednesday.
Community activists have said Clark was unarmed and handcuffed when
he was shot shortly after midnight on Sunday. The examiner's office
said he died from a gunshot wound to the head at 9:25 p.m. CST on
Monday at the Hennepin County Medical Center.
Bob Kroll, a spokesman for the union representing Minneapolis police
officers, told Reuters in a brief statement that Clark was never
handcuffed and "was disarming the officer" during the altercation.
Kroll also said that Clark had a violent history and that the
officers had no record of discipline by the department.
Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal
Apprehension, has said that Clark was unarmed and the BCA was still
trying to determine whether he was handcuffed.
According to the BCA, the police officers had responded to a request
for assistance from paramedics who reported that an individual was
disrupting their ability to help an assault victim.
The BCA said Clark was a suspect in the assault and that there was
an altercation between him and the officers before one of them shot
him.
Dozens of protesters have camped in front of the north Minneapolis
precinct near where the shooting occurred, but on Wednesday police
pushed them back from the entryway.
Police said during a Wednesday news conference that demonstrators
threw bottles, bricks and rocks at officers as they cleared the
entry.
"We will not tolerate property damage or any acts of violence
against anyone. Public safety must continue to be our number one
priority," Police Chief Janeé Harteau said.
A growing crowd of at least 250 people, joining arms to partly
surround the station, chanted slogans like "No justice, no peace.
Prosecute the police," "Indict, convict, send those killer cops to
jail" and "Handcuffs, don't shoot."
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Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges issued a statement late on Wednesday
saying she supported protesters rights to demonstrate peacefully.
She also urged police to "exercise maximum restraint."
About 20 officers, some wearing riot gear or dressed in fatigues,
watched stoically from behind barricades police had set up.
Pastor Brian Herron of Zion Baptist Church in Minneapolis criticized
the police for coming out in riot gear.
Late Monday, activists blocked the entrance of a police precinct
following the shooting and marched to an Interstate highway,
demanding authorities release video of the shooting. At least 50
people were arrested after blocking a section of Interstate 94 that
runs through Minneapolis.
"We don't want another Ferguson," said Herron, a former city council
member, referring to the St. Louis suburb where a white police
officer's shooting last year of an unarmed black man and the
decision by a grand jury not to indict the officer led to riots.
"They are unleashing something they don't understand. Oh Lord."
BCA officials have said the results of its investigation will be
given to prosecutors in two to four months. A federal civil rights
investigation is also underway.
(Additional reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit, Brendan O'Brien in
Milwaukee and Dan Whitcomb and Victoria Cavaliere in Los Angeles;
Writing by Ben Klayman; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, Christian Plumb
and Simon Cameron-Moore)
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