Minneapolis police shooting stirs old racial tensions
MINNEAPOLIS — The fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a Minneapolis police officer has pushed racial tensions in the city’s small but concentrated minority community to the fore, with a police precinct besieged by a makeshift encampment and hundreds of protesters in recent days.
Police have tried to improve race relations in recent years, and succeeded in some areas. But some community activists say racial disparities — high unemployment rates for blacks, a disproportionate number of arrests for minor crimes and inequities in housing and the school system — have been going on for so long that Sunday’s shooting of Jamar Clark — and the reaction from the community — was no surprise.
“We call Minneapolis a tale of two cities: The best of times if you’re white, and worst of times if you’re black,” said Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, and one of 42 people arrested when protesters shut down an interstate highway Monday night.
Clark, 24, was shot in the head during a confrontation with two officers. Police said he was a suspect in an assault and was interfering with paramedics trying to treat the victim. Police said there was a scuffle, and Clark was shot. Some people who say they saw the shooting claim Clark wasn’t struggling and was handcuffed. Police initially said he wasn’t handcuffed, but the state agency that’s investigating the shooting, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said one thing it’s looking at is whether Clark was restrained.
The president of the Minneapolis police union, Lt. Bob Kroll, said Wednesday in an email that Clark was “disarming” the officer and was not handcuffed.
The officers involved in the shooting were identified Wednesday as Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze, both with seven years of experience including 13 months with the Minneapolis department, but their race wasn’t released because it’s private under state law. Police in Maple Grove, where Ringgenberg worked before joining the Minneapolis force, said he is white.
Members of the Minneapolis chapter of Black Lives Matter and other demonstrators want police to release video of the shooting, but the BCA has declined to do so, saying it would taint the investigation. The FBI is also undertaking a civil rights investigation.
Tensions ramped up Wednesday afternoon when police moved to clear protesters out of the vestibule of the 4th Precinct station where several had been sleeping since the shooting. They pulled down a pop-up shelter and doused a bonfire, prompting protesters to chant, “Shame on you!” before relighting the flame.
Chief Janee Harteau said police have to keep the vestibule clear for safety. She said police have no plans to pull down some 18 tents or stop protests as long as they are peaceful.