Four men were being held on Wednesday by Minneapolis police as prosecutors weighed charges against them in connection with the shooting this week of five people protesting the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man. The men were confronted by a group of men and women, some who were later shot.
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“I’ve been to too many funerals and I’m exhausted of it”, said mourner Sheryllynn Wagner to reporters outside the church. “I’m still suffering. We need justice sooner rather than later”.
During that segment, O’Reilly even alluded to the police shooting of Jamar Clark, but failed to acknowledge that five people protesting Clark’s death had been shot the night before or that three suspects had been arrested.
Clark was shot by Minneapolis police November 15 and later died at a nearby hospital.
Several videos have been examined, but state authorities say they do not show the entire incident.
Bishop Richard Howell praised protesters for pressure that he said helped get a federal criminal civil rights investigation and the names of the officers involved.
“Jamar, your life did and does have objective”, he said to a standing ovation. “Your death was not in vain”, Howell said.
The driver, who identifies himself as “SaigaMarine” flashed a gun and made some racial slurs before saying the men were heading to the Black Lives Matter protest outside of the 4th precinct.
After the funeral service, a procession brought Clark’s body to the protesters, where improvised barricades of firewood were moved aside to let them through.
According to a Hennepin County search warrant, one of the men now in custody called a high school classmate and Mankato police officer and confessed to shooting five people. He said it would not settle arguments about whether Clark was handcuffed when police shot him in the head.
Protesters have rallied nightly outside the Fourth Precinct police station near the scene of his death. Officials will now decide whether or not to charge the men with a hate crime.
The suspects from the Monday night shooting near the Fourth Precinct are in custody at the Hennepin County Jail and will remain there until at least Monday, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Wednesday.
The shootings spurred a massive march Tuesday evening, with a racially mixed crowd marching more than 2 miles to City Hall and back.
“We ain’t going nowhere”, said Pastor Danny Givens Jr. of St. Paul, a clergy liaison to the Black Lives Matter movement. Belton says the vigil must end and that it’s time to allow investigations to take their course.
A picture of a smiling Jamar Clark adorned the program for his funeral at Shiloh Temple International Ministries. “Cause apparently fighting police and fighting paramedics is good enough to let you off with a slap on the wrist, especially when you go for an officer’s weapon”. Protests are expected to continue through the weekend, MPR News says, noting the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP is holding an outdoor church service at the Fourth Precinct Sunday at 11 a.m.
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More than 300 people entered a north Minneapolis church in small groups and singly for Clark’s funeral. Monday night’s demonstration took place a block from the Minneapolis Police Department’s 4th Precinct. According to activists, the men were white supremacists had been coming to the protests and trying to intimidate those who were gathered. Police had issued a warning Friday night, asking demonstrators to be vigilant and report any suspicious behavior to authorities.
