The Minneapolis Police Department’s Fourth Precinct was home to a Thanksgiving feast this year, where protesters have been camping out after the officer-involved shooting death of 24-year-old Jamar Clark.
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The five people who were shot outside the 4th Precinct suffered non-life-threatening injuries, although one of them required surgery for a stomach wound, an activist said at a news conference Tuesday. Inside, his obituary said the 24-year-old man “liked to swim, fish, listen to music, play basketball, be with family and take trips to Charlotte, N.C”.
Minneapolis police identified the suspects as 23-year-old Allen Scarsella, 27-year-old Joseph Backman, 21-year-old Nathan Gustavsson and 26-year-old Daniel Macey.
Clark was shot November 15 after a struggle with police. Ahead of a planned protest in Portland, Ore., he tweeted: “Black Lives Matter is planning to protest at Lloyd Center on black Friday”.
Protesters gathered in Philadelphia earlier tonight to stand in solidarity for the black teenager who was gun downed by police in Chicago and the Black Lives Matter protesters who were shot in Minneapolis. Some who say they saw the shooting allege Clark was handcuffed when he was shot, but police have disputed that.
Police named the four suspects. The story of Tuesday night, they say, was not that protesters managed to remain peaceful, but that they managed not to retaliate against continued police provocation.
“I really did think it was like firecrackers or something initially because it was so loud and there was like this acrid smell”, protester Jie Wronski-Riley said. “So really from the community”, said Black Lives Matter spokeswoman Miski Noor.
Dayton said he did not know if he would attend the funeral.
Authorities are weighing whether to treat Monday’s shooting as a hate crime, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
Minneapolis police said Thursday four suspects have been arrested in connection with the “white supremacist” attack on Black Live Matter protesters Monday.
Monday’s shooting near the protest occurred after a group of men began confronting demonstrators and were being escorted away, a witness told NBC News. But demonstrators said they would not be intimidated or “bow to fear”.
Later on Wednesday, Clark’s funeral service was held at Shiloh Temple, an worldwide congregation just blocks from where Clarke died.
“The family of Jamar Clark has been traumatized by the violent manner of his loss, the absence of information or explanation for the shooting and the challenge of navigating their grief amid the glare of media attention and among competing political agendas”, Steven Belton, the league’s interim president, said in a statement.
One of the men wore a mask, said Dana Jaehnert, who had been at the protest site since early evening.
Eddie Sutton, brother of Jamar Clark, urged the protesters to end their encampment because he was concerned about their safety.
The FBI has announced that it will conduct its own investigation, while the US attorney’s office in Minnesota and Justice Department prosecutors will review evidence to see whether any civil rights statutes were violated.
Alexander Dewan Apprentice Clark, who said he chased the attackers, said one of the men fell and when Clark helped him up, he felt what he believed to be a bulletproof vest under the man’s clothing.
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Some of the protesters who were shot the night before even managed to summon the strength to participate in the march.
