Yesterday, Minnesota officials released the names of the police who fatally shot Jamar Clark in the head: Officer Mark Ringgenberg and Officer Dustin Schwarze. Both officers have been sued in the past for violence, false arrests and threats.1
Local officials are refusing to release various videos they have of the killing, choosing instead to ramp up militarized police violence against growing peaceful protests. Right now, activists are camped out at the 4th precinct facing pepper spray, arrest and rubber bullets, while Ringgenberg and Schwarze are on paid leave. 2 We will need a groundswell of voices to get to the bottom of what happened to Jamar and secure the justice his family deserves.
The reality is, Jamar’s killing hit a nerve for thousands of Black youth in Minneapolis, a city like so many others in America where systemic anti-Black police violence is rampant. Minneapolis police are nearly 6 times more likely to stop and arrest Black teens than white teens for low level issues, such as “curfew violations.”3 From 2006 to 2012, Minneapolis paid out $14 million for police misconduct, but leadership almost never disciplined officers. In 2014, there was an average of 1.2 complaints against each Minneapolis police officer.4 And now, law enforcement are denying the eye-witness testimony of dozens of children, teens and adults who witnessed the shooting and say police shot Jamar “execution style.” In order to help this suffering community heal, local officials need to release these videos, expose the truth, and begin the hard work of moving forward.
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MORE INFO FROM BLACK LIVES MATTER MINNEAPOLIS:
https://www.facebook.com/BlackLivesMatterMinneapolis/
PRESS RELEASE: http://tinyurl.com/p7eegfu
Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 