Minneapolis police union head: suspect was disarming officer

An autopsy said Clark died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Members of the Minneapolis chapter of Black Lives Matter and other demonstrators want police to release video of the shooting, but the BCA has declined to do so, saying it would taint the investigation.

Meanwhile, a police union official Wednesday said Clark was going for an officer’s gun, and not wearing handcuffs, when he was shot.

They claimed witnesses at the scene were intimidated and treated in dehumanizing ways by Minneapolis police officers.

While the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is conducting an outside investigation, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges has asked for a federal investigation into the incident.

However, police moved them away from the building Wednesday afternoon.

Several officers were injured, and several squad cars were damaged, police told the Associated Press.

Minneapolis Police said that on Wednesday night, they had fired one “marking round” to someone “throwing bricks” and that they had used a chemical irritants after their officers were attacked with rocks and bottles.

Minneapolis NAACP leaders said the alleged assault victim had a hurt ankle and had to undergo surgery.

Hours before Wednesday’s precinct tension, Clark’s sister said her brother was a peaceful man and should not have been shot.

Clark is the latest in a series of unarmed black people to be killed at the hands of police in the United States over the past several years, fueling protests nationwide and rekindling a national civil rights movement. The FBI is also undertaking a civil rights investigation.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets daily since the shooting. The four neighborhoods nearest the shooting are 53 percent black, according to 2010 census data.

Burns said she holds “no ill will” against the police, but she “prays for their souls”. At least 50 people were arrested after blocking a section of Interstate 94 that runs through Minneapolis.

“African-American males feel like they are targeted by police because, frankly, they are”, Samuelson said.

At the same news conference, Lena Gardner, an organizer with Black Lives Matter, said activists will continue to speak out.

Franklin was being chased by police in a suspected burglary when he broke into a home. Police said he struggled with officers, grabbing a police weapon and shooting and wounding two officers before he was shot 10 times. Both officers have been working for seven years, and have been with the Minneapolis PD since September 2014. But he pointed to a growing effort by the city and police to confront racial issues head on, to bring more officers of color on the force, and to create review boards to deal with police brutality.

“We are watching. We are observing”, Green said.

Interim Urban League President Steve Belton said his organization is “inviting anyone who is unwilling or afraid to speak directly to law enforcement and has information or an account of what happened or anything germane to the shooting … to come to the Urban League to make a statement”.