Some of the dead have become national symbols, anecdotes in a bitter struggle between police reform activists and law enforcement groups: each new black man or woman killed by an officer proof that American policing needs drastic reform; every officer killed in the line of duty new evidence that the protests amount to a war on police.
Advertisement
Police on Tuesday arrested two men suspected of shooting five Black Lives Matter demonstrators, while the family of a black man whose death inspired the protests called for an end to demonstrations that have gone on for days outside a Minneapolis police station. Lena Gardner, an organizer with Black Lives Matter Minneapolis, said that the group had no protests or rallies planned for Wednesday. “For decades, the police have distorted, lied, and covered up violent acts against people of color and working people in general, often getting off scot-free”.
Clark was fatally shot by police on November 15.
Police have yet to link the disturbing video to the suspects. “I’m still suffering. We need justice sooner rather than later”.
Protesters paused their efforts to honor the wishes of the Minneapolis Urban League and Clark’s family, who asked that demonstrations be put on hold Wednesday for the service.
Jamar Clark liked to swim and fish. “They have called for peace and a cessation of protests for Jamar’s sake and the safety of the community”.
The suspects’ arrests on Tuesday followed what had been intense criticism of the Minneapolis police department’s response to Monday night’s shooting. The witnesses said the men came back a short time later and fired six shots at protesters.
Speakers thanked the protesters at the 4th Precinct for bringing about change and leading to the release of the names of the officers involved in Clark’s death.
“We made sure that all the pies were thrown out, and actually other food was thrown out for fear of contamination”, she said.
James Hill, Clark’s eldest brother, told the mourners at the Shiloh Temple church on Wednesday that Mayor Betsy Hodges had sent a note expressing her condolences, and apologising for her absence.
More than 300 people entered a north Minneapolis church in small groups and singly for Clark’s funeral.
The officers who shot Clark, Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze, were placed on standard paid administrative leave pending ongoing investigations by the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. None of the protesters suffered life-threatening injuries.
“Love for the self, love for the family and love for the community”, one protestor told the paper, “that’s what it’s about”. “At some point during an altercation that ensued between the officers and Mr. Clark, an officer discharged his weapon, striking Mr. Clark”, said state authorities.
Late Monday, as a crowd gathered around the shooting scene, police used a chemical irritant to push them back, Habu said. People are continuing to get shot down by police in the streets. On Tuesday, Chicago Police released dashcam video of the shooting on Chicago’s Southwest Side, in which McDonald was struck 16 times.
Releasing all video of the Clark shooting is the primary demand in the #4thPrecinctShutDown demonstrations and the source of frustration as the case appears more and more headed to a grand jury, “where murder charges against police go to die”, activists say.
As the protest set off from North Minneapolis around 2:30 p.m., people from the neighborhood joined in, and many chanted from their porches.
Police responded, eyewitnesses told the Guardian, by telling protesters requesting help with the wounded “isn’t this what you wanted?”
Advertisement
Fires have provided warmth and a portable warming house was moved in.
