MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a Minneapolis police officer has pushed racial tensions in the city’s small but concentrated minority community to the fore, with a police precinct besieged by a makeshift encampment and hundreds of protesters in recent days.
Police have tried to improve race relations in recent years, and succeeded in some areas. But some community activists say racial disparities – high unemployment rates for blacks, a disproportionate number of arrests for minor crimes and inequities in housing and the school system – have been going on for so long that Sunday’s shooting of Jamar Clark, and the reaction from the community, was no surprise.
“We call Minneapolis a tale of two cities: The best of times if you’re white, and worst of times if you’re black,” said Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, and one of 42 people arrested when protesters shut down an interstate highway Monday night.
Protests have continued since then, with tensions escalating again Wednesday night as a crowd outside the precinct office near where Clark was shot grew. Police at one point used a chemical irritant to control the crowd, and a chemical spray was also directed at officers, police spokesman John Elder said.
Police later reported that several officers sustained minor injuries from rocks and water bottles that were thrown and said several squad cars were damaged.