An Overview Of The Jamar Clark Shooting
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The fatal shooting of a black man by a Minneapolis police officer has prompted more than two weeks of protests and led to calls for answers as state and federal investigators piece together what happened. Jamar Clark, 24, was shot in the head Nov. 15 during what authorities said was a struggle with two officers. Here's a look at that evening's happenings and the ensuing events:
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Authorities have said their initial investigation shows Clark was a suspect in an assault and was disrupting paramedics who were trying to help the assault victim. Police say they struggled with Clark, and he was shot.
People who claim they saw the shooting say Clark was handcuffed. The state agency that's investigating the shooting, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said it's looking into whether Clark was restrained. It also said handcuffs were found at the scene, but it isn't clear whether they were on Clark or had fallen.
Lt. Bob Kroll, the head of the Minneapolis police union, has said Clark had his hands on an officer's gun. Authorities have said no other weapons were found.
A federal civil rights investigation is also underway.
VIDEO OF THE SHOOTING
Protesters have demanded that investigators release any video they have of the shooting. Officials have refused, saying to do so would taint the investigation. They have also said no footage exists that shows the shooting in its entirety — just pieces from an ambulance, a mobile police camera, public housing cameras and citizens' cellphones.
Gov. Mark Dayton said last week that he had viewed the ambulance's video and it doesn't clearly show what happened.
PERSISTENT PROTESTERS
The city's 4th Precinct, on the north side not far from where Clark was shot, is the focus of an enduring protest distinguished by nearly two dozen tents and canopies, the haze of portable fire pits and tables loaded with a steady stream of donated food.
Mayor Betsy Hodges, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison and the Urban League's Steven Belton have asked protesters to end their siege. They have cited safety concerns, including lack of access for emergency vehicles and snowplows, along with complaints from the neighborhood over the noise of helicopters and the campfire smoke.
Protesters, whose leaders include the Minneapolis NAACP and the Minneapolis chapter of Black Lives Matter, have said they won't leave until video is released.
ATTACK AND ARRESTS
Four men have been charged with felonies in a Nov. 23 attack on protesters that prosecutors say was racially motivated. The charges came a week after shots were fired as demonstrators tried to get several onlookers to leave. Five protesters — all black men — suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.
Three of the men charged in the case are white and a fourth is Asian, according to court documents. Investigators say the man accused of doing the shooting, 23-year-old Allen Lawrence Scarsella of suburban Lakeville, appeared in a racially tinged video made a few days before the confrontation.
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