Speaking at a rally on Tuesday outside the precinct building where protesters have gathered, Pastor Danny Givens Jr. of Above Every Name Church said the demonstrators would not be scared away.
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Clark’s family released a statement early this morning calling for the planned protests to be canceled as a result of Monday night’s shooting, but there is still another protest scheduled for this afternoon.
Two men have been arrested and other suspects are being sought after five people were shot in Minneapolis near a protest over the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man.
Initially, police had said they were hunting for three white suspects.
“Officers and investigators worked non-stop throughout the night to develop suspects and leads” that yielded an arrest just after 11 a.m.in Bloomington, just south of Minneapolis, the police statement said of the 23-year-old’s arrest.
Neither man has been publicly identified.
A police officer talks with demonstrators in front of a north Minneapolis police precinct during a protest in response to the death of Jamar Clark by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Two victims were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
Protesters have been outside of the Minneapolis Police Department’s 4th Precinct since 24-year-old Jamar Clark died in a confrontation with police on November 15. Clark, who was unarmed, was also a suspect in the assault, police say. Witnesses contend that Clark was handcuffed and compliant at the time he was shot in the head. Masked men wearing bulletproof vests infiltrated the crowd of protesters and at least one of the men opened fire, wounding five people.
“We got to 14 and Morgan and all you here is pop, pop, pop, pop”, Martin said.
Henry Habu, who said he has been working security for protesters, said he and others approached four people who were standing under a “Justice4Jamar” sign to ask what they were doing there.
A federal criminal civil rights investigation is also underway to determine whether police intentionally violated Clark’s civil rights through excessive force.
The shootings did not occur at the protest, police spokesman John Elder said, but in “close proximity” to it.
Several witnesses to the original shooting or immediate aftermath said the public needs to understand why the protesters are so angry.
Paul Slack, a North Minneapolis resident who participated in the march, said it was one of the largest marches he had ever seen.
However, after Monday night’s shooting, Clark’s brother Eddie Sutton urged protesters to end the encampment. State and federal authorities say they will not release videos during their investigation.
“White supremacists attacked the #4thPrecinctShutDown in an act of domestic terrorism”, Black Lives Matter Minneapolis wrote on Facebook. No one was in custody, and police were asking anyone with information to come forward. Dozens of officers assisted victims and secure the scene, the statement said.
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The wounded were taken to local hospitals.
