Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:
xEmbed
xShare
Attorney Mike Freeman said that there was not enough evidence to support the charges against the two officers involved in the fatal shooting death of Jamar Clark.
Jamar Clark, 24, of Minneapolis was trying to turn his life around, family and friends say.(Photo: Courtesy of Kenya McKnight)
MINNEAPOLIS<span style="color: Red;">*</span><span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>No charges will be filed against two city police officers accused in the November fatal shooting of Jamar Clark, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
Police said Clark, a 24-year-old-black man, had reached for an officer's gun during a struggle. The shooting set off a wave of protests in the city.
Evidence does not support charges against the officers, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>DNA shows Clark never was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>handcuffed in the Nov. 15 incident and that Clark's DNA was found on an officer's weapon, justifying the use of deadly force.
“Today is a hard day for everyone in Minneapolis. Many people are feeling hurt, anger, disappointment, frustration,” Mayor Betsy Hodges said. “My heart breaks for the loss of Jamar Clark’s life, and for the pain felt by everyone involved in this incident. There is a tear that has ripped through our community."
Freeman's announcement came about two weeks after the county attorney said he would make the final decision on the fate of officers Mark Ringgenberg, 30, and Dustin Schwarze, 28, and not a grand jury.
USA TODAY
Black Lives Matter protest snarls Minneapolis-St. Paul airport
Hodges pointed out that a federal civil-rights investigation of the Clark shooting still is ongoing. And the Minneapolis Police Department will conduct an internal review of the officers' actions to determine whether discipline is warranted.
“I knew that they were going to find them not guilty because that’s the way police are and they don’t believe no one but the police,” James Clark, Jamar Clark’s adoptive father. "It’s just sad. They murdered him and now they say everything is justified."
“I knew that they were going to find them not guilty because that’s the way police are. ... It’s just sad. They murdered him and now they say everything is justified.”
James Clark, Jamar Clark's adoptive father
Nekima<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis NAACP,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said NAACP members were anticipating this decision, "when instead we should have confidence that there are checks and balances in our system and that there will be some semblance of justice when unarmed people get killed."
"Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark's case did not happen in a vacuum," she said. "It happened in a climate in which police officers are never held accountable when they kill people in the state of Minnesota."
"We will continue to fight for what is right and we know that the struggle is not over," Levy-Pounds<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said later. "This is just the beginning. Justice was not served."
Hundreds of people marched and rallied in the evening response to the much-anticipated decision. The demonstrators chanted and held signs for about an hour reading "Justice for Jamar" and "Black Lives Matter"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>before they dispersed.
In November, the officers initially were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>dispatched to the area on a report of a domestic assault<span style="color: Red;">*</span>where a man was interfering with medical personnel. Paramedics were at the scene of a birthday party for Nekelia Sharp, 39, trying to provide aid to Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark’s 41-year-old<span style="color: Red;">*</span>ex-girlfriend, identified for the first time Wednesday as RayAnn Hayes.
During the evening, Hayes allegedly stepped in to break up an argument between Sharp and her husband. Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark grabbed Hayes, leading to an argument between them that resulted in an injured ankle for Hayes and facial wounds for both of them.
USA TODAY
Across the USA, videos of police killings spark protests, drive conversation
Around 12:20 a.m. Nov. 15, a 911 call was made from the Sharps' residence. When paramedics arrived they found Hayes intoxicated and unable to walk. She had a split lip, an abrasion on her nose and bruising on her left eye.
As paramedics carried Hayes, they saw Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark outside the building. And<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Hayes said, "That's the guy who did this to me."
The medics requested backup because the apparent assailant was on the scene. As they put Hayes on a stretcher, Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark approached them to say he was her son, but Hayes replied that he was not.
USA TODAY
Minn. police clear shooting protest camp
Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark then began yelling at one of the paramedics and told Hayes that he was coming to see her.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Both paramedics reported then they were very afraid and locked themselves inside the ambulance with Hayes, Freeman said.
Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark started knocking on the ambulance doors, trying to get in. The paramedics could not leave for the hospital without getting out of the ambulance to move to the driver's seat.
Then Ringgenberg and Schwarze arrived. Because of the call for ambulance assistance and because they came from the precinct headquarters three blocks away, they did not activate their emergency lights and sirens, which meant their squad car's video camera was not activated.
USA TODAY
3 arrested in shootings at Minneapolis protest
At 12:49 a.m., the officers approached Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark and saw his hands were in his pockets. They told him to remove his hands from his pockets, and he refused.
Ringgenberg took out his gun and held it alongside his leg with the barrel pointing toward the ground. That's when Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark started yelling, "What's the pistol for?"
The officers again told Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark to take his hands out of his pockets. He refused.
USA TODAY
Police: At least 5 shot at Minneapolis protest
Ringgenberg<span style="color: Red;">*</span>put his gun back in its holster and grabbed Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark's right wrist while Schwarze grabbed Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark's left hand. Schwarze took his handcuffs out but said he was never able to get them on the 24-year-old.
A struggle ensued, and Schwarze dropped his handcuffs.
Handcuffs found at the scene Nov. 15, 2015, of the shooting of Jamar Clark, 24, of Minneapolis.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Hennepin County (Minn.) Attorney's Office)
After Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark refused to cooperate with police, Ringgenberg<span style="color: Red;">*</span>took him to the ground. This all happened in about 30 seconds.
Ringgenberg, who was on top of Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark on the ground, said he tried to move away from Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark to be able to handcuff him when he felt his gun go from his right hip to the small of his back.
"He's got my gun!"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he yelled to Schwarze.
Ringgenberg reached back to his gun and felt Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark's hand on the gun.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Ringgenberg<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— who<span style="color: Red;">*</span>repeatedly yelled to Schwarze, "He's got my gun. He's got my gun!"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said he recalled hearing Schwarze tell Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark to let go of the gun or Schwarze would shoot.
That's when Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark allegedly replied, "I'm ready to die."
"That was the worst feeling ever because, it just, my heart just sank,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Ringgenberg<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said said in his report of the incident.
He thought he would die because he had no control over his own gun.
"Only thing I could think of to do was to save our lives and anyone else in the immediate area, so I pulled the trigger," Schwarze said in his report. But the gun initially did not fire, and Schwarze heard Ringgenberg say, "Shoot him" in a panicked voice.
USA TODAY
Federal lawyers to probe Minneapolis police shooting
He pulled the trigger again, shooting Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark once in the head<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— all in about a minute after the officers arrived at the scene.
The emergency medical services supervisor, Michael Trullinger, who arrived after the paramedics, called a second ambulance after he heard the gunshot and saw Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark on his back on the ground bleeding.
Witnesses said Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark, who was unarmed, was handcuffed when he was shot.
USA TODAY
Minn. officials: Police shooting videos won't be released
But Trullinger said he noticed a pair of handcuffs on the ground near Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark but not on him, somewhere near the man's hip. Later, Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark's autopsy would show no bruises or other injuries suggesting that they ever were on his wrists.
The hospital's toxicology report showed THC, the ingredient in marijuana that is responsible for the high, in Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark's blood and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>his blood-alcohol content at 0.09%.
Jamar<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark died at 9:32 p.m. Nov. 16.
USA TODAY
51 arrested in protests after black man shot by Minneapolis police
"Every killing by a police officer is a tragedy, and Jamar Clark is no different," said Charles Samuelson, executive director of the ACLU's Minnesota chapter. "We are glad that County Attorney Freeman has published all of the videos and the evidence used in this case.
"It is important that there is transparency in the process the county attorney used in their decision," Samuelson said. "However, Jamar Clark was shot within 61 seconds of officers arriving on the scene. It is unsettling that he was shot so quickly.
Contributing: Camille Williams,and Jay Knoll,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>KARE-TV, Minneapolis-St. Paul. Follow<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Sara Pelissero on Twitter:<span style="color: Red;">*</span>@sarapelissero
The raw video above, released Wednesday, shows Jamar Clark struggling with two Minneapolis officers. The view is from the rear of an ambulance called to help his injured ex-girlfriend.
[h=4]Posted![/h]A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed