Minneapolis Black Lives Matter Protests Show Activists' Rift
Associated Press
12/08/2015 12:01:00 AM CST
A large crowd of people, protesting the Jamar Clark shooting and killing, marched from the Minneapolis Police Fourth Precinct in North Minneapolis over the North 10th Street bridge near Target Field (shown here) to City Hall in downtown Minneapolis, disrupting traffic along the way, on Tuesday, November 24, 2015. The rally was organized by Black Lives Matter. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
Protests over the death of a black man in a confrontation with Minneapolis police officers have exposed a rift between younger and older black activists over tactics.
A protest encampment that sprang up in front of the 4th Precinct police station after the Nov. 15 shooting of 24-year-old Jamar Clark was cleared away by officers last week. Longtime black community leaders had gathered at a news conference with Mayor Betsy Hodges earlier in the week to call on protesters to break camp.
Some organizers of Black Lives Matter, which led demonstrators at the encampment, felt betrayed that prominent black leaders were standing with Hodges. They saw it as a rejection of their brand of street activism, Minnesota Public Radio News (http://bit.ly/1NRorvg ) reported.
"What they are telling us is that we need to trust the system, and the system will work itself out," said Mica Grimm of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis. "But the reason why we took over the 4th Precinct is because time and time again, we've seen the system fail us in instances like this."
Protesters have demanded the release of any videos showing the shooting and called for a special prosecutor. Some community members have alleged Clark was handcuffed when shot, but police dispute this.
Officials have refused to release any video that authorities have showing the shooting, saying it would compromise the investigation.
Sondra Samuels, one of many leaders who called for protesters to break camp, said she doesn't oppose Black Lives Matter's goals, but the encampment was hurting the neighborhood.
Samuels, president and CEO of the Northside Achievement Zone, said neighbors were on edge because of the constant presence of helicopters and police floodlights, and then shootings of five demonstrators. She said it was starting to feel like "we are being occupied."
Keith Mayes, a University of Minnesota professor of African-American studies, said tensions between young and old aren't a new phenomenon in the civil rights movement. He said it has always been about a youth movement "on the cutting edge of the issues," and that older leaders today should remember history.
"The older black crowd has to check themselves and say, 'Let these folks do what they have to do, because that's what we did when we were young,' " Mayes said.
Report: Minneapolis Officer Punched Jamar Clark in July
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINNEAPOLIS — Dec 9, 2015, 1:53 PM ET
A man who was killed by Minneapolis police last month had been punched by a different officer in July after resisting arrest, according to a police document obtained by a newspaper.
Details of Jamar Clark's arrest are in a police report obtained by the Star Tribune ( http://strib.mn/1YZ6Xim ).
The full report isn't public due to an ongoing investigation and it was not released to The Associated Press. The newspaper did not publish the report online.
Clark, 24, was arrested July 29 after he crashed into an apartment building during a high-speed chase. Clark was driving a stolen car at the time and had two teenagers with him, the documents said.
Clark repeatedly refused to be handcuffed before he was hit once in the face by an officer, the documents show.
Clark, who was charged with fleeing a peace officer, claimed excessive force was used. He told a police-force review supervisor that he exited the car with his hands up and an officer tackled him for no reason, the documents show. Clark also claimed the officers choked him until he had a seizure, similar to how Eric Garner was placed in a chokehold last year by a New York City officer and died.
The supervisor said dashcam video from the arrest showed one officer tackling Clark and pinning him to the ground, the document said. The report said Clark repeatedly tried to get up, and another officer punched him in the face and handcuffed him.
Afterward, Clark appeared to be unconscious and an officer monitored him, the report said.
The police department's Internal Affairs Unit is investigating the arrest, as is standard procedure.
The officers involved in the July incident were not the same ones from the Nov. 15 confrontation in which Clark was shot. He died a day later.
Officers said Clark was shot after a struggle, but some who saw the incident claim Clark was handcuffed when shot. That shooting is being investigated by state and federal authorities.
His death sparked weeks of protests.
———
Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com
After protests, Minneapolis NAACP calls for more North Side investment
The action is one of several sought by leaders of the protest over Jamar Clark's death.
By Erin Golden
Star Tribune
DECEMBER 8, 2015 — 9:11PM
Leaders of the weekslong protest outside Minneapolis’ Fourth Precinct police station returned there Tuesday afternoon to call on officials to remove the barricades they had put up around the station — and to do more to help the city’s North Side.
Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis NAACP, said the barricades put up after the city ended protesters’ occupation had turned the precinct on Plymouth Avenue N. into “what essentially looks like a penitentiary.” She said it was a symbol of how north Minneapolis is treated differently from other parts of the city, and she called on Mayor Betsy Hodges and other officials to follow through with promises of training opportunities, jobs and development for North Side residents.
“We need to ask the question: What kind of city are we creating in the city of Minneapolis?” Levy-Pounds said.
She repeated the demands that her organization and Black Lives Matter have called for since Jamar Clark was fatally shot by police Nov. 15: the release of video of the shooting and prosecution of the officers without a grand jury. Protesters have pointed to witness reports of Clark being handcuffed when he was shot, while police have said Clark was not handcuffed. State and federal officials are investigating the incident. Clark died of a gunshot to the head.
But speakers said they’re also looking for broader changes, including a deeper commitment from the city to jobs and economic development in north Minneapolis and a federal investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department’s treatment of people of color.
Two of five people who were shot in an apparently racially motivated incident during the protests said they feel unsafe because of the shooting and their interactions with police. (Four people have been charged in the Nov. 23 incident.)
Minneapolis NAACP President Nekima Levy-Pounds spoke to reporters Tuesday outside the Fourth Precinct police station in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis NAACP President Nekima Levy-Pounds spoke to reporters Tuesday outside the Fourth Precinct police station in Minneapolis.
Teven King, 19, pulled up his sweatshirt to reveal a large bandage over his stomach, where he said a bullet tore into his intestines and remains lodged. Cameron Clark, a cousin of Jamar Clark, who was also shot during the protests, said he feels “betrayed” by police and questioned why the department needed a barricade that “looks like we’re going to go to war with them.”
“All lives matter, it’s just not about black lives matter, but I feel like black lives are the ones who are going through a lot right now, and I just don’t understand what’s going on,” he said.
About a half-hour after the news conference, city crews began taking down some of the barricades. A police spokesman said the work had been planned last week.
North Minneapolis has been the focus of some recent city initiatives and developments, including a new $8 million service center at Aldrich and West Broadway. The facility will have space for medical services, job assistance and education run by the county, state and Minneapolis Public Schools.
In April, the North Side was selected as one of 13 communities across the country to get a federal “Promise Zone” designation. It provides the city with priority status for federal grants related to programs in north Minneapolis, along with volunteers and technical assistance. The program aims to reduce disparities in housing, economic development and education, among other areas.
But Levy-Pounds said officials need to show more tangible signs of progress, particularly on revolving loan programs, job training and the development of an African-American economic development center.
“That’s why we’re standing out here,” she said.
12/08/2015 12:01:00 AM CST
A large crowd of people, protesting the Jamar Clark shooting and killing, marched from the Minneapolis Police Fourth Precinct in North Minneapolis over the North 10th Street bridge near Target Field (shown here) to City Hall in downtown Minneapolis, disrupting traffic along the way, on Tuesday, November 24, 2015. The rally was organized by Black Lives Matter. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
Protests over the death of a black man in a confrontation with Minneapolis police officers have exposed a rift between younger and older black activists over tactics.
A protest encampment that sprang up in front of the 4th Precinct police station after the Nov. 15 shooting of 24-year-old Jamar Clark was cleared away by officers last week. Longtime black community leaders had gathered at a news conference with Mayor Betsy Hodges earlier in the week to call on protesters to break camp.
Some organizers of Black Lives Matter, which led demonstrators at the encampment, felt betrayed that prominent black leaders were standing with Hodges. They saw it as a rejection of their brand of street activism, Minnesota Public Radio News (http://bit.ly/1NRorvg ) reported.
"What they are telling us is that we need to trust the system, and the system will work itself out," said Mica Grimm of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis. "But the reason why we took over the 4th Precinct is because time and time again, we've seen the system fail us in instances like this."
Protesters have demanded the release of any videos showing the shooting and called for a special prosecutor. Some community members have alleged Clark was handcuffed when shot, but police dispute this.
Officials have refused to release any video that authorities have showing the shooting, saying it would compromise the investigation.
Sondra Samuels, one of many leaders who called for protesters to break camp, said she doesn't oppose Black Lives Matter's goals, but the encampment was hurting the neighborhood.
Samuels, president and CEO of the Northside Achievement Zone, said neighbors were on edge because of the constant presence of helicopters and police floodlights, and then shootings of five demonstrators. She said it was starting to feel like "we are being occupied."
Keith Mayes, a University of Minnesota professor of African-American studies, said tensions between young and old aren't a new phenomenon in the civil rights movement. He said it has always been about a youth movement "on the cutting edge of the issues," and that older leaders today should remember history.
"The older black crowd has to check themselves and say, 'Let these folks do what they have to do, because that's what we did when we were young,' " Mayes said.
Report: Minneapolis Officer Punched Jamar Clark in July
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINNEAPOLIS — Dec 9, 2015, 1:53 PM ET
A man who was killed by Minneapolis police last month had been punched by a different officer in July after resisting arrest, according to a police document obtained by a newspaper.
Details of Jamar Clark's arrest are in a police report obtained by the Star Tribune ( http://strib.mn/1YZ6Xim ).
The full report isn't public due to an ongoing investigation and it was not released to The Associated Press. The newspaper did not publish the report online.
Clark, 24, was arrested July 29 after he crashed into an apartment building during a high-speed chase. Clark was driving a stolen car at the time and had two teenagers with him, the documents said.
Clark repeatedly refused to be handcuffed before he was hit once in the face by an officer, the documents show.
Clark, who was charged with fleeing a peace officer, claimed excessive force was used. He told a police-force review supervisor that he exited the car with his hands up and an officer tackled him for no reason, the documents show. Clark also claimed the officers choked him until he had a seizure, similar to how Eric Garner was placed in a chokehold last year by a New York City officer and died.
The supervisor said dashcam video from the arrest showed one officer tackling Clark and pinning him to the ground, the document said. The report said Clark repeatedly tried to get up, and another officer punched him in the face and handcuffed him.
Afterward, Clark appeared to be unconscious and an officer monitored him, the report said.
The police department's Internal Affairs Unit is investigating the arrest, as is standard procedure.
The officers involved in the July incident were not the same ones from the Nov. 15 confrontation in which Clark was shot. He died a day later.
Officers said Clark was shot after a struggle, but some who saw the incident claim Clark was handcuffed when shot. That shooting is being investigated by state and federal authorities.
His death sparked weeks of protests.
———
Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com
After protests, Minneapolis NAACP calls for more North Side investment
The action is one of several sought by leaders of the protest over Jamar Clark's death.
By Erin Golden
Star Tribune
DECEMBER 8, 2015 — 9:11PM
Leaders of the weekslong protest outside Minneapolis’ Fourth Precinct police station returned there Tuesday afternoon to call on officials to remove the barricades they had put up around the station — and to do more to help the city’s North Side.
Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis NAACP, said the barricades put up after the city ended protesters’ occupation had turned the precinct on Plymouth Avenue N. into “what essentially looks like a penitentiary.” She said it was a symbol of how north Minneapolis is treated differently from other parts of the city, and she called on Mayor Betsy Hodges and other officials to follow through with promises of training opportunities, jobs and development for North Side residents.
“We need to ask the question: What kind of city are we creating in the city of Minneapolis?” Levy-Pounds said.
She repeated the demands that her organization and Black Lives Matter have called for since Jamar Clark was fatally shot by police Nov. 15: the release of video of the shooting and prosecution of the officers without a grand jury. Protesters have pointed to witness reports of Clark being handcuffed when he was shot, while police have said Clark was not handcuffed. State and federal officials are investigating the incident. Clark died of a gunshot to the head.
But speakers said they’re also looking for broader changes, including a deeper commitment from the city to jobs and economic development in north Minneapolis and a federal investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department’s treatment of people of color.
Two of five people who were shot in an apparently racially motivated incident during the protests said they feel unsafe because of the shooting and their interactions with police. (Four people have been charged in the Nov. 23 incident.)
Minneapolis NAACP President Nekima Levy-Pounds spoke to reporters Tuesday outside the Fourth Precinct police station in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis NAACP President Nekima Levy-Pounds spoke to reporters Tuesday outside the Fourth Precinct police station in Minneapolis.
Teven King, 19, pulled up his sweatshirt to reveal a large bandage over his stomach, where he said a bullet tore into his intestines and remains lodged. Cameron Clark, a cousin of Jamar Clark, who was also shot during the protests, said he feels “betrayed” by police and questioned why the department needed a barricade that “looks like we’re going to go to war with them.”
“All lives matter, it’s just not about black lives matter, but I feel like black lives are the ones who are going through a lot right now, and I just don’t understand what’s going on,” he said.
About a half-hour after the news conference, city crews began taking down some of the barricades. A police spokesman said the work had been planned last week.
North Minneapolis has been the focus of some recent city initiatives and developments, including a new $8 million service center at Aldrich and West Broadway. The facility will have space for medical services, job assistance and education run by the county, state and Minneapolis Public Schools.
In April, the North Side was selected as one of 13 communities across the country to get a federal “Promise Zone” designation. It provides the city with priority status for federal grants related to programs in north Minneapolis, along with volunteers and technical assistance. The program aims to reduce disparities in housing, economic development and education, among other areas.
But Levy-Pounds said officials need to show more tangible signs of progress, particularly on revolving loan programs, job training and the development of an African-American economic development center.
“That’s why we’re standing out here,” she said.
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