Jamar Clark's dad: Justice means charges against police
Standing in the Hennepin County Government Center on Thursday, and surrounded by supporters from the group Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, James Clark spoke of his pain following his son's death.
"It's been a hard battle over all of this," he said, the day after Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced that he will not use a grand jury to determine whether to charge the officers involved with shooting his 24-year-old son Jamar Clark to death in November.
Clark told reporters that Jamar had problems. In fact, he had a criminal history.
In March 2015, Jamar Clark pleaded guilty to terroristic threats. Six years ago, he was convicted of first-degree aggravated robbery.
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"Hey, I had some problems with things that I did when I was a kid, but he didn't deserve to be killed by the people who's supposed to enforce the law and go by the law," James Clark said.
Paramedics responded to an emergency in mid-November involving Clark's girlfriend, who was allegedly assaulted at a birthday party.
Police say Clark was shot during a struggle outside the ambulance.
"They shot him in the head, and that's a deadly shot," James Clark said, "they shot him in the face, in the left eye."
Clark said justice for his son meant prosecution of the police in one way or another.
Minneapolis police officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze have returned to work following their involvement in Jamar Clark's death.
That's not right, say community organizers.
Jodie Carroll, with the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, said the decision not to use a grand jury is a step in the right direction, but not a victory by itself.
"A victory is prosecution when the police are actually charged with the crimes committed against Jamar Clark, second-degree murder, or manslaughter," Carroll said. "The ultimate victory would be a conviction."
Minneapolis Police union president Lt. Bob Kroll said Wednesday he's confident that the facts are on the side of the officers, and that they'll ultimately be exonerated.
And an attorney with the St. Paul Police Federation said in cases like this he favors a decision made by a grand jury, not a single county attorney.
Hennepin County attorney Mike Freeman says he expects to decide whether to prosecute the officers by the end of the month.