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Updated: June 1, 2016 | Posted: Nov. 19, 2015 


Jamar Clark, 24, was shot by an officer after a confrontation in north Minneapolis Nov. 15, 2015 after officers reportedly tried to stop him from interfering with a paramedic crew treating a woman initially identified as his girlfriend outside a late-night party; he died the following day. The responding officers believed the woman was an assault victim and that Clark was a suspect.

Timeline

Full coverage


The shooting sparked widespread protests and calls for justice. Crowds gathered for nearly three weeks at the 4th Precinct police station to protest the shooting. 


The BCA conducted the criminal investigation into Clark's death and on Feb. 10, the agency announced that it had turned its findings over to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office for review. 


On March 30, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said the use of force by two Minneapolis police officers was justified and that prosecutors 


On June 1, federal prosecutors announced they 

would not pursue federal civil rights charges


Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said there's insufficient evidence to support charges against the officers.

Here's what we know so far about the case. 

The woman injured the night of the shooting speaks

The head of the Minneapolis NAACP in April 

 and appoint a special prosecutor to lead the investigation.


The demand for a new probe came as the woman who was injured the night Clark was shot by police said she was not Clark's girlfriend, that he never hit her that night and that the prosecutor's narrative that justified Clark's shooting by Minneapolis police was fabricated. 


RayAnn Hayes' comments were a rebuke to the report by Freeman who declined to press charges against the two officers involved in the shooting after concluding their use of force against Clark was justified.


Lt. Bob Kroll, head of the Minneapolis police union, told MPR News partner KARE 11 that Clark was 

 and was shot after going for an officer's gun.


However, some who said they saw the shooting said Clark was handcuffed.


During the March 30 news conference explaining his decision, Freeman said the two officers testified they were unable to handcuff him, and that the witnesses who said Clark was handcuffed gave differing accounts.
 

Freeman says physical exams found no evidence of bruising on Clark's wrists consistent with being handcuffed. He also said traces of Clark's DNA found on the grip of one officer's gun supported the contention that he was not handcuffed.


BCA investigators interviewed Minneapolis police officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze about their roles in the fatal shooting. At the time of the incident, both were seven-year police veterans with 13 months on the Minneapolis force. 


A records summary released by the Minneapolis Police Department shows no complaints lodged through the department's internal affairs unit against Ringgenberg.  


He previously worked as police officer in Maple Grove  and San Diego. 


In 2012, Ringgenberg and another San Diego officer were accused of excessive force. A New Jersey man said Ringgenberg had grabbed him from behind and held him a choke hold. The man's federal civil rights lawsuit was settled.


Schwarze worked as an officer in Richfield between 2008 and 2014. 


During his time in Richfield, Schwarze was involved in an alleged incident that became the basis for a lawsuit accusing him of excessive force. The lawsuit was filed less than two weeks before Clark's death.


In Minneapolis, according to a records release from the Minneapolis Police Department, Schwarze has one open internal affairs query and one case listed as closed with no discipline against him.

Officers Ringgenberg, Schwarze

Widespread protests throughout Twin Cities

blocked the westbound lanes of Interstate 94.

 With traffic on the busy interstate at a standstill, state troopers directed vehicles down a grassy embankment to an off-ramp.


Authorities ultimately arrested 42 people for the I-94 shutdown.


On Nov. 18, a gathering of hundreds of protesters at the 4th Precinct grew tense after police cleared the entrance of the station where some had camped since Clark was shot by police.

Black Lives Matter protesters surround 4th Precinct


Police said they had to move protesters who were blocking the precinct's entrance to the public. Inspector Mike Friestleben said at least 10 people had been camping there and when officers went to talk to them about leaving, the crowd got angry.


"People started throwing stuff at us right away," he said. "We never even got a chance to talk to them."


But Shvonne Johnson, a St. Catherine University instructor who was there with college students, said officers didn't give them a chance to leave.


"They were charging us," she said. "People were trying to get past, to do what they asked us to do, but they came at us with force."


A chemical irritant was used on both sides in at least three separate incidents. Police said they used it after they tried to remove protesters' tarps and had rocks and bottles thrown at them.


Weeks later, on Dec. 3, police cleared the protest camp outside the 4th Precinct. 


Since then, activists have held protests and marches throughout the Twin Cities — including 

at the Mall of America and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MPR News Staff

Author

The fatal police shooting Jamar Clark in north Minneapolis has sparked community protests and calls for justice.

The Jamar Clark shooting: Where it stands

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