MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A night after a shooting near a Minneapolis protest that left five people injured, hundreds of demonstrators at the same site quietly milled around, sharing coffee, pizza and doughnuts, and stacking up firewood.
U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison was among those gathered Tuesday night outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s 4th Precinct, which has seen ongoing protests since a city officer fatally shot Jamar Clark on Nov. 15. Ellison said the mood was good, given the attack a day earlier, but said he still had safety concerns.
“The Jamar Clark family has urged us to start thinking about an exit strategy, and I think that would be wise.”
Ellison’s office early Tuesday issued a statement on behalf of the Clark family after the shootings, calling for an end to the protests for safety’s sake, a request that organizers quickly rejected. Protesters are calling for the release of video of Clark’s shooting, which police said happened after Clark struggled with officers. But some people who said they saw the shooting said the 24-year-old was handcuffed.
Police, who haven’t commented on a motive for the attack on the protesters, said three people were in custody. Authorities arrested a 23-year-old white man and two more men – both white, ages 26 and 21 – turned themselves in Tuesday afternoon. A 32-year-old Hispanic man was arrested but later released. No further details were immediately available.