Activists Demand MPD Officer Who Fatally Shot Man To Be Arrested, Charged With Murder

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities activist group is demanding that the Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot a man in a downtown apartment complex Wednesday morning be arrested, jailed and charged with murder.

The Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar said in a statement that while police might say the fatal shooting happened as officers were serving a search warrant, that doesn't give officers the right to be "be the judge, jury and executioner."

"It is inexcusable to come in armed to the teeth at a 259-unit apartment building. The reckless disregard for our community's safety is typical, unfortunately, of the MPD," the group's statement said.

Justice for Jamar is demanding that the officer involved in the shooting be arrested, jailed and charged with murder in Hennepin County. The group also demands that the body camera footage be released to the public.

According to Minneapolis police, the shooting happened shortly before 7 a.m. inside the Bolero Flats building on 11th Street and Marquette Avenue. Roughly 9 seconds after a SWAT team announced their entrance into the building, they encountered a man with a handgun who was pointing the weapon at officers.

One officer shot the man. While officers and paramedics aided him, police say, he was later pronounced dead at Hennepin Healthcare.

Interim Minneapolis Police Chief Amelia Huffman said a gun was recovered from the scene. She added that body cameras were rolling during the shooting, but so far no footage has been released. It's unclear when that footage will be made public.

According to the interim chief, the SWAT team executing the search warrant was assisting St. Paul police in a murder investigation.

Civil rights lawyer and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong said shortly after the shooting that Huffman notified her of the incident. Levy Armstrong serves on Mayor Jacob Frey's new Community Safety Workgroup.

"Right now, there are a lot more questions than answers," she wrote.

Justice for Jamar says the Community Safety Workgroup is the city's latest attempt to "reimagine public safety" but doubts it will be able to change the police department.

The Minneapolis Police Department has been under scrutiny for years over police killings of Black men. The scrutiny magnified following the May 2020 killing of George Floyd, for which a former Minneapolis officer is now serving a 22-and-a-half-year murder sentence. Three other officers involved in Floyd's death are currently on trial for violating Floyd's civil rights.