Protests continued to roil the city on Wednesday, forcing officers to set up barricades at north Minneapolis police precinct headquarters and tighten security at other places.
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The NAACP is organizing a candlelight vigil and march for Friday evening outside a Minneapolis police station that’s been the scene of protests since the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a police officer. Clark was shot once in the head in what police say was a scuffle with officers responding to an assault.
Clark’s death comes at a time of heightened national awareness of and debate over police use of lethal force, especially against blacks. “We don’t want another Ferguson”, Minneapolis pastor and former city member Brian Herron told Reuters, referring to the major clashes between protesters and police that followed an outbreak of community outrage over the decision to not indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson over the killing of Michael Brown.
A gathering Thursday night was more peaceful, the Star Tribune reported.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Hundreds of people gathered outside a Minneapolis police precinct on a cold Friday night to call for peace and release of videos after a black man was fatally shot by an officer. The city didn’t immediately release disciplinary records.
Meanwhile, president of the Minneapolis NAACP, Nekima Levy-Pounds, said police need to take a step back. The Atlantic reports that Mayor Betsy Hodges has asked the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to launch an investigation.
Tensions ramped up Wednesday afternoon when police moved to clear protesters out of the vestibule of the 4th Precinct station where several had been sleeping since the shooting.
Clark was shot by an officer Sunday.
Minneapolis City Councilmember Cam Gordon addressing the crowd assembled outside the Fourth Precinct on Thursday night. Authorities have yet to release cell phone and witness videos reportedly showing clips of the altercation, but demonstrators are demanding that the footage be made public. A few community members allege Clark was handcuffed. “We also received multiple complaints from residents who were unable to gain entry to speak with our officers and investigators”.
“I just pray that we will be able to get through this bad, awful time, all of us together, in a way that only strengthens or overall Minnesota community”, he said.
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Copyright 2015 Associated Press.
