Minneapolis, MN – Some 3000 people marched two-and-a-half miles from the Minneapolis Police Fourth Precinct to City Hall to protest the police murder of Jamar Clark, and demand the prosecution of the police officers that were involved. The march from the Fourth Precinct started in the afternoon of Nov. 24. Protesters have been occupying the precinct around the clock since the killing on November 16.

The previous night, a violent attack by masked white supremacist gunmen sent five protesters to the hospital, all of them African American men. In response, Black Lives Matter Minneapolis called on supporters to “reject white supremacist terrorism, and reject white supremacist police violence.”

That call was answered by people from across the Twin Cities, who joined the march, refusing to back down in the face of racist terror. Many families with young children joined the march, students from at least four Minneapolis high schools organized walk-outs, and many union workers came back after rallying over weekend. As the crowd assembled, one speaker said, “They tried to break our spirit, but we just grew and grew!”

As the protest set off from North Minneapolis around 2:30 p.m., people from the neighborhood joined in, and many chanted from their porches. The crowd continued to grow and the marched filled the streets of downtown, arriving at City Hall around 4:00 p.m. Speakers, poets and chants kept the crowd united for an hour, before marching back to North Minneapolis, where a major concert carried on into the night on the street in front of the Fourth Precinct police station.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman has refused to bring charges against the police that killed Jamar Clark, stating today that his office will “present the case to a grand jury for consideration of criminal charges.” Black Lives Matter Minneapolis responded, “Using a broken grand jury system that convicts less than 3% of cops is completely unacceptable.”

While the occupation of the Fourth Precinct continues, no rallies are set for Wednesday, the day of Jamar Clark’s funeral. There will be a food and clothing drive and a give-away to benefit the Northside community.

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