Five Shot at Black Lives Matter Protest In Minneapolis [Updated]

I wrote here about the shooting of Jamar Clark by Minneapolis police officers on November 15. Police were called to the scene of an assault that occurred just a block or two from the department’s 4th Precinct station. Clark reportedly was interfering with paramedics who were trying to treat the victim of the assault. The victim was Clark’s girlfriend, and he apparently was the perpetrator. After the police arrived, there was a scuffle and one of them shot Clark. Some witnesses claimed that Clark was handcuffed at the time, but that is denied by police. Both the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Department of Justice are investigating, but at this point the facts remain unclear. At least one video exists, but Governor Mark Dayton has viewed it and says it doesn’t show much of anything.

Since November 15, the Black Lives Matter movement, supplemented by the NAACP, has moved into Minneapolis in force. BLM protesters have been camping outside the 4th Precinct station for the last week or more. The protests have generally been peaceful, but last night five people were shot. Three white men were near the encampment; some of the protesters said they had been there before, and were taunting the protesters. A group from BLM approached the three white men (it should be noted that quite a few of the protesters are also white) and tried to move them away from the encampment.

What ensued is described in quite articulate fashion by this witness, in a video that was uploaded to a site called Unicorn Riot. The video is also interesting because it gives a picture of what the BLM encampment looks like. The video should be muted by default, so you have to turn up the volume:

Fortunately, none of the five was critically injured. The three men who fired at the protesters are being described as white supremacists, although it not clear that there is any evidence for that characterization. The family of Jamar Clark has called on the BLM protesters to end their encampment outside the 4th Precinct, but the protesters vow to carry on. They are planning a march for later today.

UPDATE: Authorities announced today the arrest of two men, described as a 23-year-old white man and a 32-year-old Hispanic man. One or more additional suspects are still being sought.

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