A black man was shot by police officers in Minneapolis on Sunday, leading to anger from the community and a meeting with the mayor and police chief Sunday.
Witnesses said the man was handcuffed when he was shot. However, police officers said in a press conference Sunday that their preliminary investigation shows the he had not been handcuffed. They added that the probe is ongoing.
Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis NAACP, identified the man as Jamar Clark — a black man in his mid-20s. In a statement, Levy-Pounds said Clark was “shot and killed” by police, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
However, a family member told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that Clark was in intensive care at the local hospital, and that a doctor had told them he is brain dead.
State Rep. Raymond Dehn, who represents the area in north Minneapolis, said Clark was on life support in a statement released on Sunday.
Police said they were called to an apartment complex around 12:45 a.m. local time following a report of an assault.
When police officers arrived, they said the man was interfering with the victim, who was being attended to by paramedics. Police said they tried to calm the man, but a scuffle started and at some point an officer shot and hit the man.
Witnesses started to crowd around and became frustrated as police tried to keep them away. They also said several people were pepper-sprayed.
“We’ve been saying for a long time that Minneapolis was one bullet away from Ferguson. Well, that bullet was fired last night,” said Jason Sole, an associate professor at Metropolitan State University and chair of the local NAACP chapter.
"We want justice immediately," Sole told Minnesota Public Radio News.
Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and Police Chief Janee Harteau organized a meeting with the community Sunday evening.
After the meeting, Harteau told the Associated Press that there was a lot of misinformation being spread about the incident, but wouldn't specify which facts were incorrect.
The State Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will conduct an independent investigation, Harteau added.
"We need to know exactly what happened, we need to know the truth," she said. "Everyone involved needs that and deserves that."
The two officers involved in the event are on paid leave, which is standard protocol for investigations.
Hodges and Harteau stepped away from the meeting after making their initial comments, as they were drowned out by arguments between people in attendance, while others started to yell "Justice for who? Jamar!"
Protesters marched on Sunday afternoon, carrying Black Lives Matter banners. The group of about 250 people started where Clark was killed and marched to a police precinct, where they knocked on the door and demanded to be let in.
Raeisha Williams, a member of the Minneapolis NAACP, said to the Associated Press that protesters plan to stay at the precinct until the names of the officers involved are released.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1N690Pp
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