Black Lives Matter Protesters Removed from Minneapolis Police Station

Protest organisers also ignored an invitation from Mayor Hodges to a formal community meeting she was conducting – at that meeting someone in the crowd loudly heckled her, while at the rally, organisers continued to maintain Mr Clark was shot while handcuffed, and doubted any official inquiry would be impartial.

The president of the Minneapolis police union, Lt. Bob Kroll, said Wednesday in an email that Clark was “disarming” the officer and was not handcuffed.

Tragic: Jamar Clark (above) was unarmed when he was fatally shot in a confrontation with police on Sunday in Minneapolis.

Police Chief Janee Harteau ordered police Wednesday afternoon to break up the protesters’ camped outside the department’s Fourth Precinct for safety reasons, according to the Star Tribune.

Police initially said Clark was not handcuffed when he was shot, but authorities later said handcuffs were at the scene and that they are trying to determine whether Clark had been restrained.

Around 18 tents remain set up outside of the police station.

Police did not elaborate on the relationship between Clark and the assault victim, other than that they knew each other, citing the active and ongoing investigation.

The police story was different.

Protesters shouted at police Wednesday as officers pulled down an awning at the site. As soon as police began to move in, social media calls went out for more activists to head to the precinct, and the crowd grew rapidly.

Kroll said he hoped people who say Clark was handcuffed “make a statement to the BCA on that matter”.

‘Even in the midst of protests and demonstrations, we will continue to have important dialogue and conversations to keep moving forward, ‘ he said.

Police later reported that several officers sustained minor injuries from rocks and water bottles that were thrown and said several squad cars were damaged.

Hodges later said on her Facebook page that she “firmly believes in everyone’s right to protest”.

“If things escalate, then our response has to escalate”, Harteau said.

A federal civil rights investigation has also been launched.

Eyewitness account conflict with the police report as a few people who said they saw the shooting claim Clark wasn’t struggling and was handcuffed. Minneapolis police do not have any rubber bullets, spokesman John Elder said.

Police said there was a scuffle, and Clark was shot.

Earlier Wednesday the officers involved in Clark’s shooting were identified as Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze. Both have been with the department for 13 months and have been police officers for seven years.

Both were placed on routine paid administrative leave after the shooting.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Tuesday that Clark died from a gunshot wound to the head.

According to a tweet, officers fired a marking round-essentially paint-which was meant to hit a man who was throwing bricks. He came from the Richfield Police Department after being on that force for nearly six years.

Court records show that Ringgenberg and another San Diego officer were accused of excessive force in 2012.

Superintendent Drew Evans of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said videos of the shooting do not show the entire incident and will not be released. Protesters have demanded that video be released, saying they don’t trust investigators. Clark’s family has told reporters that he was en route to putting his life back together. The women were in the process of leaving when officers “charged at them”, she told the station.

Tensions are high and the group Black Lives Matter is calling its supporters down to the scene.

The BCA says its investigation could take up to four months. In the past, police departments have released videos of officer-related incidents – St. Paul police released a video showing officers in a skyway stunning a man with a Taser and arresting him.