At least 5 people shot at Black Lives Matter protest in Minneapolis

Protesters have been camped outside of the Minneapolis 4th Police Precinct for more than a week following the shooting of 24-year-old Jamar Clark.

UnicornRiot interviewed witnesses of the shooting who said three men in masks approached the site and were confronted by protesters asking them to take their masks off. Later, they ran down the block and started opening fire on protesters.

Demonstrators protesting the death of a black teen shot 16 times by a white Chicago police officer are calling on people to “rise up” and shut down the Magnificent Mile shopping area on Black Friday. Police said three of the men are white; the fourth man’s race hasn’t been released. But Freeman has said that decision will instead rest with a grand jury, and the activists believe there is little hope of a grand jury indicting a police officer – especially if the video remains closed to the public.

The rally is planned for 5 p.m.at the Cincinnati Police Department District 1 headquarters on Ezzard Charles Drive.

Scarsella, Gustavsson and Backman are white, while Macey is Asian, police said; the protesters who were shot were black.

Some protesters criticized the police response time and said officers arrived in full riot gear. Officers aggressively pushed back on the crowd, protester Jie Wronski-Riley said, at one point using a chemical irritant to keep people back.

Protesters have rallied nightly outside the 4th Precinct police station near the scene of his death.

According to authorities, the police officers had responded to a request for assistance from paramedics who reported that someone was interfering as they tried to help an assault victim.

Clark’s family and others urged protesters to suspend demonstrations and on the day of the funeral it was relatively quiet, although the funeral procession was to stop at the precinct en route from the North Minneapolis church to the cemetery. Four people are now in custody, the police said in a press release, including two who turned themselves in.

More than 300 people entered a north Minneapolis church for Clark’s funeral on Wednesday.

The AP also caught up with Wesley Martin, one of the five protestors who had been shot during Monday night’s violence. “Jamar, your life did and does have goal”, said Bishop Richard D. Howell Jr., a bishop at the Shiloh Temple. “They have called for peace and a cessation of protests for Jamar’s sake and the safety of the community”. Protesters lined the streets, fists raised in salute, as the cars stopped for several minutes, horns honking.

Investigators acknowledged there are several videos of Clark’s fatal encounter, but none will be released, despite a dispute over whether Clark was handcuffed when he was shot.

“We’re here for Jamar”, one said, according to Henry Habu, who had been providing security for the demonstrators. Attempts by Reuters to reach family members of the four men arrested in that case were not successful. They asked for and received the release of the officers’ names. We appreciate Black Lives Matter for holding it down and keeping the protests peaceful. Since then, dozens to hundreds of people have been at the precinct continuously in protest of the shooting.

Clark was shot November 15 after a struggle with police. The shooting is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s office and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights division.