Source: Stephen Maturen / Getty
On Wednesday, December 24, Black Lives Matter protestors have planned to interrupt Christmas shopping at the Mall Of America in Minneapolis in honor of Jamar Clark.
On November 15th, Clark was shot by police following an altercation that he had with his girlfriend. Police said Clark was interfering with the woman being treated and that they struggled with him prior to the shooting. Witnesses of the incident, including 10-year-old Ze’Morion Dillon-Hokin said Clark was already handcuffed when he was shot.
At the time of the incident, police said there was no body cam or dash cam footage available. Clark was shot across the street from a social club which may have had an angle of the shooting on their surveillance footage.
Black Lives Matter has given law enforcement the ultimatum of calling off the protest if the footage of the incident is released. According to The Huffington Post, “Authorities have said they will not release the videos while the investigation is ongoing because it could compromise their work.”
The protestors are also demanding that a special investigator be hired to oversee the case in lieu of a grand jury that may decide to acquit officers Dustin Schwarze and Mark Ringgenberg. The pair are currently on paid administrative leave following the shooting.
The activists also want federal terrorism charges to be brought against four men who shot and injured five protesters during a rally for Clark in November.
The Mall Of America is private property which forbids protesting. The retailer is planning to have law enforcement at the ready should protestors interfere with shopping.
Miski Noor, organizer of the upcoming demonstrations isn’t phased by the possibility of being arrested for the protest.
“If it’s not clear yet: we won’t stop…” she said. Though they destroyed the community space we created, they can’t destroy our resolve to fight until we get justice for Jamar Clark and liberation for black people.”
It seems as if police have more incriminating footage than they are leading the public to believe. Hopefully Clark’s family or attorney’s have petitioned a judge to release the video under the Freedom of Information Act, a law that gives you the right to access information from the federal government.
A judge ruled in favor of this law in the case of Laquan McDonald which has resulted in a plethora of ongoing changes into cover ups and corruption in Chicago.
Stay tuned for the latest developments in the case.
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