In the face of these protests, police eventually revealed the names of the two officers under investigation in the incident, but declined to announce the race of the officers. According to tweets from the Minneapolis Police Department, police used the chemical irritant after officers trying to remove tarps were pelted by rocks and bottles. Police have disputed that claim.
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The U.S. Attorney and the FBI have released a joint statement saying the “release of any evidence, including any video, during an ongoing investigation would be extremely detrimental to the investigation”. Little has been released about the incident, and authorities say videos will not be released because they could “taint” witness testimony they have yet to obtain.
In his strongest comments yet on the case, Dayton said Saturday that he plans to ask for a federal investigation of any civil rights violations in the police’s response to the protests.
Federal and state authorities have thus far resisted releasing the footage.
Mica Grimm of Black Lives Matter-Minneapolis says she told officials at the meeting that the protest won’t end until the community says it’s OK.
“It’s my responsibility, knowing this is a very, very volatile situation”.
McKnight says the service will start at noon and last an hour.
She says she wants people to remember that Clark “was loved; he was cared for”.
Earlier this year, Clark was convicted of a felony count of terroristic threats and sentenced to 15 months in prison.
Protesters are huddling around fires in freezing temperatures during a demonstration a week after a black man was fatally shot in a scuffle with Minneapolis police. Authorities have said no other weapons were found at the scene. The lawyers are expected to discuss the possible release of video.
Tuesday morning, they are planning a march in Minneapolis. It’s just blocks from where Clark was shot early Sunday after police responded to an assault complaint. “I think he came to the table with more passion”, said Kandace Montgomery of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis.
Kyle Edwards of AFSCME Local 3800, representing University of Minnesota clerical workers, says working class people are becoming aware that “we’re all in this together”.
As protesters continue to camp outside the Fourth Precinct Police station in North Minneapolis, Dayton lauded their restraint.
Witnesses say Clark was already handcuffed when police shot him, though the Minneapolis police force have refuted the claim.
Activists say the police killing of Clark is part of a broader epidemic of disproportionate violence by police toward people of color, and in particular Black people.
Clark’s death, which is the latest in a series of unarmed black men killed at the hands of police in the United States, sparked demonstrations in the city’s small but concentrated minority community.
A shaky video that surfaced online earlier this week appears to show an officer bending down to check on Clark, who is lying motionless on his stomach, reigniting the debate over whether the 24-year-old was handcuffed at the time he was shot.
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Hundreds attended a peaceful vigil Friday evening to remember Clark.
