Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Video/News Video
News VideoVideo

Jamar Clark’s Father Speaks Out After Learning Officers Involved in His Son’s Death Escaped Charges

By | Published on October 24, 2016
CommentsComments (0) Add as a preferred source on Google i

On Oct. 21, Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau told the media that officers involved in the fatal police shooting of 24-year-old Jamar Clark would not be charged for misconduct.

Clark died after police shot him during a domestic dispute call in November 2015, per Atlanta Black Star. According to initial reports, eyewitnesses believed Clark was unarmed, shot while handcuffed and did not warrant the excessive use of force inflicted on him.

Last Friday, Harteau said officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze did not violate department procedures. In an exclusive with ABC 5 Eyewitness News, Clark’s adoptive father said he and his wife had no idea there was an internal investigation going on. James Clark believes the police chief is lying about the details of his son’s death.

“They’re lying,” he tells reporters. “It wasn’t no need for them to tackle him to the ground. He didn’t have no weapon … So why was it necessary for them to pull out a gun and shoot him?”

James Clark said he cannot understand why the officers involved were not charged. He rebuts Harteau’s announcement and says race was the determining factor in the case.

“They don’t even believe them Black people [eyewitnesses near the scene of the shooting] … Because they was all Black. But if that had been four or five white people there that said the same thing — what the Black people said — it would be a different story.”

The family plans to file a civil suit because they believe it is their only avenue for justice.

Subscribe To The ABS Newsletter — Get our stories in your inbox.

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Latest from Atlanta Black Star

Back to top