Protesters camp out overnight, demand names of officers who shot suspect

Protesters gathered Monday outside a north Minneapolis police precinct near the site where officers shot a black man.

Jamar Clark was shot by Minneapolis police early Sunday after officers were called to his apartment over reports of an assault.

Police said Clark was not handcuffed when he was shot; protestors dispute that.

Instead of MPD conducting its own review, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will investigate what exactly happened – a move the local police union welcomed. Clark’s father previously told The Associated Press that his son suffered a single gunshot wound over his left eye.

‘All the witnesses were yelling they shot the man while he was already down and handcuffed, ‘ Lisa Neal-Delgado wrote in a Facebook post.

“Unless the community steps up to help us out, it will continue”.

The ACLU-MN released a statement saying they are asking for “full transparency and accountability” moving forward, including a release of the video, naming of the officers involved and the launch of a full Department of Justice investigation. Police said that after assaulting someone minutes earlier, he returned to the scene, “confronting paramedics and disrupting their ability to render aid” to the assault victim. During the struggle, an officer discharged his weapon, striking the suspect, according to Minneapolis Police.

Protesters are still at the city’s fourth police precinct, where they’ve been since Sunday afternoon.

Deaths of unarmed black men and women at the hands of police over the past year have fueled criticism over the treatment of minorities by police in the United States and rekindled a national civil rights movement under the banner Black Lives Matter.

The mayor of Minneapolis, Betsy Hodges, and its police chief, Janee Harteau, held a listening session with the community Sunday evening, where a few community members shouted in anger.

Martez McKnight, Clark’s nephew, said the family “is heartbroken and traumatized by the whole event”. “Everyone involved needs that and deserves that”.

Harteau says there are no pre-determinations about anyone’s actions, and that she understands and supports the probe. Protesters hit the highway shortly before 7 p.m. Authorities at the scene ordered protesters to disperse from the highway at about 8 p.m. If they didn’t follow orders, they could be arrested.

In 2014, a prominent civil rights activist Al Flowers complained of being the victim of brutality when police served a warrant on a relative at his home.

Two Minneapolis police officers are now on paid administrative leave while the investigation is ongoing, according to authorities. Authorities say their aggression was instigated by Flowers.

The hard relationships have led to the development of task forces made to quell problems and discussions between authorities and minorities.

Minneapolis is participating in a federal Justice Department programme for increasing trust between police and their communities.

The suspect was not in handcuffs during the physical altercation, and was taken by ambulance to Hennepin County Medical Center, where a representative declined to comment, police said.

Protesters are demanding that police release the video they recorded at the time of the killing.