Protesters call for peace at vigil for slain Minneapolis man

Protesters continued to camp at a local police precinct and three activists were escorted from a City Council meeting Friday as community members kept up the pressure for answers following the fatal shooting of a black man by a Minneapolis police officer.

The troubled past that Jamar Clark struggled for years to escape now hangs over the investigation into his death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

On Friday evening, hundreds of people gathered and lit candles during a vigil for Clark outside of the 4th Street Precinct station, two blocks where he was killed. A few community members have alleged Clark was handcuffed at the time, which police dispute.

The group started marching peacefully at 6 p.m. heading east down Plymouth Ave N. toward the area where Clark was shot by police.

Mayor Betsy Hodges has met with protesters to try to diffuse tensions, but says releasing video would jeopardize an investigation of the shooting by state authorities. Several speakers are calling for unity and justice in the wake the shooting. He was shot by a police officer in what authorities say was a scuffle.

“None of our children deserve to be shot and killed, and then talked about like they are animals”, said Bettie Smith, who joined protesters to discuss her son’s death in a 2008 officer-involved shooting. She has praised officers for what she said is restraint under tough circumstances and said police will arrest people where they have enough evidence. Stephen Green, national director of the NAACP’s youth and college division, said the weather may be cold, but people’s hearts are burning for justice for 24-year-old Jamar Clark.

The head of the Minneapolis police union, Bob Kroll, says the department should take a tougher stance with protesters.

The protesters interrupted a regular city council meeting to complain about the way the city handles police-misconduct issues.

Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, told reporters Thursday it shows there’s been a “militarization” of the department. After the vigil, the crowd marched a short distance to the site of the shooting.

National NAACP President Cornell William Brooks urged the black community to stand up, but to be peaceful, as Minneapolis police have come under criticism of how they deal with the community.