Wednesday Update from Minneapolis

Funeral for Jamar Clark & Standing Up to White Supremacists and Police

November 25, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

From a Revolution correspondent

 

As of Wednesday night, in spite of and in face of ongoing threats from white supremacists and police officials, 150 protesters remain camped out in front of the Minneapolis Police Department 4th Precinct. The entire street is blocked off with tents, with huge piles of firewood at both ends of the street.

I am at the encampment in front of the 4th Precinct. I have gotten Carl Dix’ statement on the shooting of protesters here out to people, and am talking to people and learning about what is on their minds. I spoke with a number of Black youth here who are furious about that assault. The scene continues to be a mix of Black and white people—about half Black. There are students, activists, and people from the community.

As I was interviewing two Somali women who are supporting the encampment, a pick up truck drove right up to the encampment and two white guys were yelling things like—“you’re violent—you asked for this.”They then sped off. It was very threatening and scary for people at the encampment. But nobody left. And people are also getting more organized and the encampment security was on this.

The things the two guys yelled echoed what the police told the people Monday in the encampment when they tried to report the 5 people had just been shot. Cops said things like get out of here, we don’t want to hear it and “you wanted this.”

People noted that the police were nowhere around during this incident. But an hour later, a whole bunch of police with flashing lights rolled up on the protest to harass people.

Pain and Outrage at Jamar Clark’s Funeral

Shiloh Temple is an African-American church in North Minneapolis with a large congregation, not far from where Jamar Clark was murdered by police. Perhaps 400 people attended his funeral, along with major media coverage outside. The large majority were Black, with a few whites, and a large contingent of ministers from other congregations, including about 10 Hmong who sat in an honored position right behind the pulpit.

The obituary spoke of Jamar’s short life. Born in 1991, he graduated from Harrison High School and worked for Copeland Trucking and Central Car Wash. Jamar liked to swim, fish, listen to music, play basketball, be with family and take trips to Charlotte, North Carolina.

The viewing went on for two hours before the noon service. Just before the service, wailing could be heard in the aisle for the viewing, as Jamar’s grandmother was assisted to the casket. Not long after that, Jamar’s mother came down the aisle, and she began to jump up and down and scream out “They took my baby!” over and over. She could not proceed to the casket for several minutes, until drained of energy and assisted by several people.

A few family members spoke, including one of Jamar’s brothers. His anger was as palpable as his grief. He clearly called out the police for murder, and demanded the video tapes of the incident be released. He said “they shot my brother in the face!” He thanked the protesters from the area and all over the country and called on them to continue until the killer cop is in jail. He said he knows about the police from his own experience, and just hasn’t been murdered by them yet.

The host minister and a visiting minister also gave praise to the protesters, and called for justice for Jamar. The funeral procession went past the encampment, and a number of people who had been part of the funeral stopped their cars to salute the protesters, some with raised fists.

 

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