Justice 4 Jamar Fox 9 Twitter
(Photo via MN Fox 9 Twitter)
Interstate 94, one of the busiest highways in the state of Minnesota, was brought to a completely stop Monday night as hundreds of protesters flooded the roadway, protesting a Minneapolis police officer's recent shooting of an unarmed black man. Organized under the #Justice4Jamar hashtag and heading of Black Lives Matter, the protesters blocked northbound traffic on the busy roadway, andMinnesota Public Radio News reports that 51 people in total were arrested.
"Minnesota State Patrol Lt. Tiffani Schweigart says 43 adults and eight juveniles who refused multiple orders to disperse were arrested," MPR notes. "She says those being arrested were cooperative and no use of force was required." The protests came in the wake of Sunday's shooting, during which 24 year old Jamar Clark was shot by an officer in North Minneapolis. Some eyewitnesses have alleged that Clark was handcuffed at the time of the shooting, and Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges has called for a federal investigation of the shooting. Clark was rushed to the hospital, and according to City Pages has only just been taken off of life support.
Police allege that Clark had been interfering an emergency crew that had been called in for an incident at his girlfriend's birthday party, and MPR notes that "The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating the shooting, says preliminary indications are that Clark was not handcuffed."
Already on Sunday, protesters had gathered outside a Minneapolis Police Department precinct, as well as the block where Clark was shot. On Monday, roughly 100 protesters "linked arms and blocked traffic lanes for more than two hours before State Patrol officers moved in," the Star Tribune reports. Those arrested will most likely be given citations for unlawful assembly and being pedestrians on the freeway--misdemeanor crimes in Minnesota.
Among the apprehended was Minneapolis NAACP President Nekim Levy-Pounds, who willfully placed herself in the path of arresting officers. “We just want some answers,” Draper Larkins told the Star Tribune. “The federal investigation might get answers. But we want the correct answers.” Watch video taken from Tuesday's confrontation below, courtesy of the Star Tribune. A gallery of images from the night's events is also available here.
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