Protesters continued to camp at a local police precinct and three activists were escorted from a City Council meeting Friday as community members kept up the pressure for answers following the fatal shooting of a black man by a Minneapolis police officer.
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The NAACP is organizing a candlelight vigil and march for Friday evening outside a Minneapolis police station that’s been the scene of protests since the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a police officer.
Overall, demonstrations on Thursday appeared to be less stressful than a day prior, when police used chemical irritants against a few protesters and shot a marking round with green paint at someone they said had thrown two bricks.
Police used a chemical irritant to control a crowd of protesters outside a precinct office.
Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis NAACP, said police need to back down. Police say he was a suspect in a domestic assault and was shot after allegedly interfering with paramedics who were trying to provide first aid to the victim.
Harteau said police would pursue arrests where they had evidence, but Bob Kroll, the police union leader, said the department should be moving more forcefully, including removal of tents that a few protesters have set up outside the north side’s 4th Precinct.
It is not clear whether the officer is pointing the gun directly at Jeremiah, or what type of weapon it is.
“We are also asking for the Minneapolis Police Department to be placed under federal receivership…” she said.
Authorities say there is video from several sources, however none have captured the entire incident.
Mayor Betsy Hodges has already asked the Justice Department to investigate the incident, and Time magazine reported that Ellison has contacted Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking her to launch an investigation.
NAACP President Cornell William Brooks is in the Twin Cities seeking a peaceful solution, organization spokeswoman Raquel Coombs said.
State Rep. Raymond Dehn, D-Minneapolis, was among those standing outside the 4th Precinct station. My son is PEACEFULLY protesting w/ hands up; officer is shouldering gun.
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Black Lives Matter called for a civil rights investigation into “abuses of peaceful protesters”.
