The police officers responsible for the death of an unarmed man will not face criminal charges in Hennepin County.
That is because Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Minneapolis Police Officers Dustin Schwarze and Mark Ringgenberg acted in self-defense in shooting 24-year-old Jamar Clark in the head this past November – a claim supporters of Clark continue to contest. Freeman’s March 30 announcement was immediately challenged by Clark supporters who accused Freeman of being part of a police cover-up.
According to Freeman, Clark’s death was a direct result of his own actions. He said Clark tried to take Ringgenberg’s gun and the officer “feared for his life.” In an ambulance videotape Clark can be seen standing facing away from the officers when Ringgenberg forcibly grabs Clark from behind, places him in a chokehold and slams him to the ground. The struggle continues beyond the view of the ambulance camera, but according to Freeman, Clark was wrestling away Ringgenberg’s gun when Ringgenberg called for his partner Schwarze to “shoot him,” referring to Clark. The Hennepin County prosecutor – relying on testimony from the officers involved – said Clark told the officers he was “ready to die.”
“We’re tired of being lied to,” said Mica Grimm of Black Lives Matter immediately after Freeman’s announcement. “We watched video of Jamar Clark being taken down forcefully and that was not mentioned in the narrative Mike Freeman gave. This is not justice. This building (Hennepin County Government Center) is fake. This proceeding is fake. We will not accept it, so if we can’t find justice here we will find it in the streets.”
Grimm said by finding it in the streets she means a continued strategy of long-term nonviolent protests. In fact a couple of large gatherings took place the evening of the announcement – one at the scene of Clark’s shooting on Plymouth Avenue North and another at Elliot Park, south of downtown. Protesters from both events marched to the Hennepin County Government Center where an hour-long rally was held. Additional protests have been planned in hopes of getting a federal indictment of the officers.
Freeman said Clark’s DNA was found on Ringgenberg’s gun and utility belt, however Clark’s fingerprints were not on the gun or belt. Freeman explained away the absence of fingerprints saying prints were hard to collect from the gun handle, but he did not address the lack of prints on the belt or any other part of the gun.
“The entire case seems to hinge on police statements and DNA evidence … DNA that was handled by the Minneapolis Police Department,” said Grimm.
“The other issue is the point that Freeman made that (Clark) was not handcuffed,” said Raeisha Williams, communications chair of the Minneapolis NAACP. “(Freeman) reiterated that over and over. Being handcuffed should not be the determining factor to determine if it’s OK for someone to be murdered.”
Several witnesses stated Clark was handcuffed when he was killed, a fact in dispute since the onset.
“It basically says the word of police officers who murder will be placed over the word of dozens of witnesses in the community,” said Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis NAACP.
In clearing the officers of any criminal wrongdoing, Freeman did say that Ringgenberg’s chokehold takedown of Clark was “not the preferred method” by the Minneapolis Police Department of handling a suspect and attributed the tactic to training Ringgenberg received when working as an officer in San Diego.
The interaction of the officers and Clark began when police were called to the scene following an altercation between Clark and a woman described as his girlfriend where the woman injured her leg, thus the call for an ambulance. Freeman said ambulance workers called for officers because they were fearful of Clark, who they said was behaving aggressively towards them. Video footage (that is online on the Hennepin County attorney’s website) does show Clark interacting with the woman and paramedics but that interaction is verbal and there is no audio accompanying the video.
“The narrative that Mike Freeman presented does not corroborate with what we saw on the video,” said Danny Manning, a pastor and member of the Black Lives Matter movement.
