Takeover of Minneapolis City Hall rotunda demands justice for Jamar Clark
Outrage grows as white supremacists avoid attempted murder charges after shooting 5 protesters
Minneapolis, MN – A group of 30 clergy, demanding justice for Jamar Clark, took over the rotunda at City Hall this morning, Dec. 1. Hundreds will rally this afternoon at the Hennepin County Government Center, at 4:00 pm, in the wake of County Attorney Mike Freeman’s failure to bring attempted murder charges against white supremacists who shot five protesters.
“Our elected officials and so called community ‘leaders’ have found common ground, not to call for justice for Jamar Clark, but to provide political cover for more violence against peaceful protesters at the Fourth Precinct,” stated organizer and Pastor Danny Givens. “We have endured a terrorist attack by armed white supremacists, police aggression with mace, less lethal projectiles and batons, and freezing temperatures, and we're not going to be intimated now.”
Black Lives Matter Minneapolis is calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor and demanding that the officers involved be directly prosecuted without involving a grand jury, given that over 97% of cases involving police killings end without indictment.
“Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman can charge directly from the complaint, and we request that he do so at this time and does not call a grand jury,” said Lena K. Gardner, organizer with Black Lives Matter Minneapolis.
Community members have held a 24/7 occupation of the Fourth Precinct for the past two weeks to demand justice for Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man who was shot in the head by police.
The community is continuing to demand for officials to publicly call to #ReleaseTheTapes, especially in light of the Laquan McDonald case in Chicago, where tapes of an officer shooting a teen 16 times were withheld for 400 days.
Yesterday, Mayor Hodges renewed her call for demonstrators to abandon the Fourth Precinct, while ignoring the demands of the protesters. “If Mayor Hodges is so concerned about safety, she should join us and call for the appointment of special prosecutor to investigate Jamar Clark’s murder to avoid using a broken grand jury system,” said organizer Miski Noor.