Protests continue in North Minneapolis

Protests are continuing in Minneapolis over the fatal shooting of a black man by a police officer.

Kerry Jo Felder, secretary for the NAACP, speaks to a crowd of union workers and protesters in front of a police precinct Saturday, November 21, 2015, in Minneapolis.

Hundreds gathered Friday at sundown for a peaceful prayer vigil and march. Over the past year, protests against killings of unarmed black men and women – a few videotaped with phones or police cameras – have rocked a number of cities.

(Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP).

The group Black Lives Matter had hoped Gov. Dayton would call on law enforcement to immediately release video from the shooting of Jamar Clark. An encampment of protesters outside a Minneapolis police station vowed Saturday to maintain their vigil ov…

Mr Kroll also said that Clark had “a violent history” and that the two officers who were involved in the shooting have no disciplinary issues on their records. He said the officers should face charges and “go through the same procedures that we do”. They prayed and sang “We Shall Overcome” before returning to the police station.

In a separate development, police in Chicago are under court order to release by Wednesday a police video of the fatal shooting of a black 17-year-old by a white police officer there. He led a chant of, “No justice, no peace!”

He also called for an investigation into “any matters” during the weeklong protests “that may have violated the civil rights of any Minnesota citizens”.

Dayton said in a statement Saturday that he met with Clark’s family and with members of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Minneapolis police Deputy Chief Medaria Arradondo said the department recognizes past grievances between the African-American community and police and is working hard to build trust. She said the family “does not want it to be political”.

Both officers involved in the shooting, Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze, have been placed on standard administrative leave.

A lawyer for McDonald’s family said the video showed him moving away from Officer Jason Van Dyke, the police officer who fired all of the shots, while at least five other officers never fired their weapons. Authorities say there was a struggle and he was shot.

Activists say releasing the video will clear up debate over whether Clark was handcuffed when he was shot in the head before 1 a.m. on November 15 – witnesses say he was handcuffed, but police dispute that claim.

Protesters say they feel as though they were mistreated by police during the course of this week.

Funeral plans have been set for Clark on Wednesday at noon at the Shiloh Temple global Ministries on Broadway Avenue in the city’s North Side, according to Clark’s cousin.

Clark spent much of his 20s in and out of prison, serving a three-year sentence for a first-degree robbery conviction in 2010.

Clark’s relatives have said that despite several convictions for robbery and domestic assault, he had gotten his life back on track.