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Vol. 80/No. 15 April 18, 2016
Cop account of killing of Jamar Clark ‘not true’
BY KEVIN DWIRE
AND JACQUIE HENDERSON
MINNEAPOLIS — Hundreds of people took to the streets here March 30 to
protest the refusal of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman to charge
police officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze for the Nov. 15
shooting of Jamar Clark, 24, who died the next day.
Two marches converged on the Government Center, one that began where
Clark was killed, organized by the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4
Jamar, and the other called by Black Lives Matter.
Clark’s sister Danielle Burns told the Militant, “We want people to know
that we are not OK with this.”
“We’re Black, we’re Latinos, we’re white, we’re Asians,” Mel Reeves, an
organizer for Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, told the crowd.
“We’ve united to fight for Jamar and we can win.”
“The officers are supposed to protect and serve. Everybody’s life
matters,” James Clark, father of Jamar, told another rally April 1.
In announcing his decision Freeman released for the first time dozens of
videos on the events that day. None show clearly the shooting of Jamar
Clark.
Freeman said the confrontation began after Clark assaulted RayAnn Hayes.
She has given varying accounts of what happened that night but told the
press, “I never said anything about domestic violence.”
The transcript of the initial call to 911 requesting an ambulance makes
no mention of Clark or any domestic dispute. “There was an altercation
downstairs in the building and I tried to break it up and in the process
of it I think my leg’s sprained,” a caller who identified herself as
RayAnn said.
After Hayes was in the ambulance, Freeman said that Clark tried to get
in, although that is not visible in the videos.
When Hennepin County Emergency Medical Services Deputy Chief Michael
Trullinger arrives, Clark can be seen backing away from the ambulance.
In its description of the video the Minneapolis Star Tribune notes that
“Trullinger displays no overt emotional response during his interaction
with Clark, and later walks out of the frame.”
According to Freeman, when Ringgenberg and Schwarze arrive they each
grab one of Clark’s wrists and tried to handcuff him and that in the
“ensuing struggle … Ringgenberg landed on his side on top of Clark, who
was on his back.” The cops claim that Clark reached for Ringgenberg’s
gun and that Schwarze put his gun to Clark’s head. When Clark refused to
let go, Schwarze shot him point blank. None of this is caught on tape.
Clark said, “I’m ready to die,” the cops claim. “The only people who
heard what Jamar said were the two officers and Mr. Clark,” Freeman
said. “And he is not here.” In a video immediately after the shooting a
woman can be heard shouting, “He didn’t have to do that.”
While some eyewitnesses said that Clark was handcuffed when he was shot,
that does not appear to be the case.
Teto Wilson, who said he saw the shooting, said Clark “was thoroughly
pinned down” and the cop account is “just not true.”
“Your entire narrative today was to push the propaganda of the
Minneapolis Police Department,” said Minneapolis NAACP spokesperson
Raeisha Williams. “You, Mr. Freeman, did not give a fair and accurate
portrayal.”
Related articles:
SWP candidate backs fight to prosecute California cop
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