The two police officers involved in the shooting death of Jamar Clark will not be charged, according to Mike Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney. The shooting took place in Minneapolis last November. Freeman said he declined to bring charges because he believed there was substantial evidence that they feared for their lives.
There are conflicting witness accounts of what occurred when police officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze encountered Clark. Video evidence from the scene is also unclear. Freeman has made much of evidence freely available for people to peruse and make their own conclusions. His office release a report showing how they came to make their choices in the matter.
What is known for sure is that Jamar Clark was dead 61 seconds after Ringgenberg and Schwarze arrived on the scene. Officer Ringgenberg stated that Clark attempted to grab his weapon after being tackled to the ground. Officer Schwarze said that he then put his gun to Clark’s mouth and told him to let go of Ringgenberg’s weapon or be shot. Clark then apparently said: “I’m ready to die”, but only the two officers heard him.
Protesters are unhappy with the decision. The Minneapolis NAACP and Black Lives Matter Minneapolis have held events in the city. In the days after the shooting, there were protests and demonstrations around the city. There are sure to be more in the days ahead. Clark supporters are hoping that the federal inquiry into the matter ends differently. The U.S. Department of Justice started a civil rights investigation at the request of Mayor Betsy Hodges. The investigation, which is being led by the FBI, is still ongoing.
The case has renewed interest in improving the relationship between police officers and the citizens they protect. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) has said that the department needs to equip officers with body cameras. There is assuredly more to come in this story.
Featured image via Flickr by Doug Kerr under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.
