FILE – This undated file photo released by Javille Burns shows her brother, Jamar Clark, who was shot November 15, 2015, after a confrontation with two police officers and died a day later. His killing sparked weeks of protests.
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The police union leader said that MDP officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze have been subjected to an “obtrusive” investigation over the past seven months over the shooting of 24-year-old Jamal Clark in a scuffle last November.
Luger is the second prosecutor to decline to file charges in Clark’s death, following Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman’s announcement in March.
Activists have demanded an independent investigation after a black man, Jamar Clark, was shot during an altercation with a police officer in Minneapolis. Other witnesses claimed Clark was handcuffed when he was shot. Police have disputed that.
A key focus for federal investigators was whether Clark was handcuffed when the shooting occurred. Police said they were forced to use a chemical irritant to control the crowd after protesters threw rocks and bottles at officers.
Luger added that DNA evidence from the handcuffs does “not support the conclusion that Clark” had them on. A medical examiner also concluded that Clark had no bruising on his wrists that would indicate he had been handcuffed.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension determined that Ringgenberg and Schwarze were responding to a call of a man interfering with paramedics when they demanded Clark take his hands out of his pockets.
The results of the federal investigation were announced today outside the Minneapolis FBI Office at the Brooklyn Center.
His relatives were in tears and did not speak to reporters as they left the building where Luger held a news conference announcing that there would be no charges, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, said federal officials were obtuse about their investigation.
“We are unable to bring federal criminal civil rights charges in this matter”, he said. “It is not enough to show the officers made a mistake, that they acted negligently, by accident or even that they exercised bad judgment to prove a crime”. The entire encounter that lasted barely more than a minute from the time the officers first arrived.
Clark’s death set off weeks of protests on the city’s north side, where some witnesses said Clark was handcuffed when he was shot. Four men three white, one Asian were charged.
“I understand this decision has struck at the heart of a painful tension in the community”, Hodges said in a statement Wednesday. “What we can do now is move forward together to build a city that is safe and equitable for everyone”.
Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau said she hopes the public will accept the conclusions of the investigations.
The shooting set off a wave of sustained protests throughout the city, similar to demonstrations launched across the nation in the past two years in response to controversial police actions.
Mayor Betsy Hodges requested the civil rights investigation.
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The Clark shooting spurred state lawmakers to examine longstanding complaints of racial inequities, particularly on the impoverished north side. When the investigation is complete, city officials said the MPD will “release as much information as state statute allows”.
