Over the past week and a half, there have been constant protests in Minneapolis demanding information and videos relating to the murder of Jamar Clark, who was killed by a police officer there. People have been rightfully calling for justice and transparency from the police for numerous reasons, especially because Jamar had been handcuffed and on the ground when he was shot.
Reports indicate that police showed up after a call was made regarding a fight that had happened between Jamar and his girlfriend but there should be absolutely no reason for him to be shot while handcuffed and on the ground. And that’s the thing about racism and antiblackness that so rampant in many faucets of the US – as white people, we’re not only given a certain sense of privilege and comfort but we also have this collective fear of black people. We make black people more terrifying than they are – as seen with how Darren Wilson later described Mike Brown.
I’m not trying to condone domestic violence because I do believe that it’s a different issue that needs to be addressed in society as a whole. But I also don’t believe that people should be killed in an extrajudicial manner, especially since that people are incredibly influenced by biases whether they admit or not and more often than not, black people and other people of color are more likely to feel the brunt of extrajudicial violence.
We came out here because #JamarClark should never have been shot. We came out here because Black folks deserve humanity.
— Great Nagging Shark™ (@colocha_rachel) November 24, 2015
Why we’re here. #Justice4Jamar #4thPrecinctShutDown pic.twitter.com/7kWBL6XQ4Y
— Great Nagging Shark™ (@colocha_rachel) November 18, 2015
While the organizers of the protests have been incredibly prepared and organized and that the protests have been incredibly peaceful, they have all been met with hostility from the police. Even worse, there was a shooting last night where several white supremacists shot and injured several protesters. Five protesters were shot, luckily all with non life threatening injuries but nonetheless, this peaceful and ongoing protest was yet again met with violence.
Someone explain why a cop needs to do this. Was his safety threatened? This is flexing. Period. #Justice4Jamar https://t.co/p0Lr2rlYkH — ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) November 19, 2015
Witness testimony about white supremaxist shooting at #4thPrecinctShutDownpic.twitter.com/c18YpUJXGz
— Micky Black (@mickynoir) November 24, 2015
The shooters were all white supremacists who had been at the site of the protest before being asked to leave and had threatened protesters. Witnesses also say that police officers took several minutes before coming to the aid of those who had been shot, maced people asking for help or filming what was happening, and police chatter on the scanner had been more worried about crowd control than investigating the shooting.