Vow for more protests in Minneapolis

A chilling video of masked men dressed in military fatigues is generating new attention after five people were shot in Minneapolis Monday during a Black Lives Matter demonstration over the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Jamar Clark by police.

However, Stephen Belton, the Minneapolis Urban League’s interim president, has stated that some members of Clark’s family are calling for a complete cessation of protests.

Protesters, some of whom were high school students who had walked out of class, walked through downtown Minneapolis on Tuesday.

Ambulance personnel requested police early November 15, saying Clark was interfering with treatment of a patient, apparently his girlfriend.

Funeral services for 24-year-old Jamar Clark will be held at noon Wednesday at Shiloh Temple global Ministries in north Minneapolis.

On Monday, five protesters were wounded in a shooting near the 4th Precinct police station on the north side of Minneapolis.

Clark’s family members wore white T-shirts that read, “I Matter”.

A fifth man was arrested Tuesday but was released after police determined he was not at the scene.

“I’ve been to too many funerals and I’m exhausted of it”, mourner Sheryllynn Wagner told reporters outside the church. “I’m still suffering. We need justice sooner rather than later”. They said Clark was a suspect in the assault and had an altercation with the officers before one of them shot him.

Questions have been raised whether Clark was handcuffed when he was shot, which police have denied. Police and federal investigators are still gathering evidence, the attorney’s office said.

Previously, the protesters had asked for an independent investigation into the shooting and the release of the names of the officers involved. To a standing ovation, Howell said: “Jamar, your life did and does have objective”. “Your death is not in vain”.

When about a dozen protesters attempted to herd the men away from the area Monday, witnesses said, they “opened fire on about six protesters”, hitting five of them. Three of the four men held are white, and the other is listed as Asian, police said.

Protesters have called on city leaders to release video footage captured of the incident, but authorities say it would harm their investigation into the incident, CBS Minnesota reported.

The Star Tribune reports that authorities are still debating whether to charge the men with a hate crime.

Protesters at the encampment called the shooters white supremacists.

Because of an extension granted by a Hennepin County judge, possible charges against the four men could arrive as late as Monday; they will remain in the Hennepin County jail until then.

The shootings spurred a massive march Tuesday evening, with a racially mixed crowd marching more than 2 miles to City Hall and back.

A trio of MPR reporters says, “Gov. Mark Dayton called the shootings a “cowardly, criminal act” and said he believed the suspects will be ‘brought to justice.’ At the same time, he said he hoped protesters would heed the pleas of Jamar Clark’s family to end the protests outside the precinct amid safety concerns”.

Belton says the vigil must end and that it’s time to allow investigations to take their course.

Pastor Jayme Ali of God of All Truth Church told The Associated Press there will be an “emergency rally” Wednesday, with MPR News noting a rally is planned at 4 p.m. Wednesday, with a similar rally set for the same time in NY City and some other locations.