Minneapolis, Minnesota, where nearly 1000 Black Lives Matter protesters took to the streets last night after alleged white supremacists opened fire on a demonstration the night before, injuring five people. Police have now arrested three men in connection with the mass shooting, which took place at a protest outside a police precinct. At least one of the gunmen was reportedly wearing a mask. All three suspects are white. Authorities may treat the shooting as a hate crime. Witnesses of the shooting say police took an unusually long time to respond to the attack, and then proceeded to use mace on the protesters. When activists reclaimed the streets, Tuesday, they vowed not to be silenced by what some call an act of domestic terrorism.
At the time of Monday evening’s attack, the Black Lives Matter protesters were gathered at an encampment outside a police precinct to protest the police killing of unarmed 24-year-old African-American Jamar Clark. The Justice Department is now investigating. Protesters were calling for the release of the video of that police killing. Authorities said Clark was shot in the head Sunday after a scuffle with officers who responded to a report of an assault. But multiple witnesses say Clark was shot while handcuffed. Minneapolis police officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze have been placed on administrative leave during the investigation.
Protesters have been camped outside the 4th Precinct since last week, despite a police raid last Wednesday in which multiple people said the police beat them with batons, sprayed them with mace, and hit them with marker rounds. Well, for more we are going to Minneapolis, to speak with an eyewitness to Monday evening’s shooting.
Leslie Redmond talking:
two nights ago I came out, everything was fine, people were socializing, eating, just communing as normal. And then a police officer comes and pokes his head over the precinct walls. This was a night unlike any other night. I have been out since Sunday every night consistently. This officer had on a ski mask very similar to the gunmen. He poked his head around, he, like, looked at the scene, saw what was going on. Less than 30 minutes after this officer with this ski mask that was poking his head over the precinct, these gunmen show up who at the time, you know, we didn’t know who they were. They had on ski masks. They came up. We don’t allow people to have on ski masks anymore because of the threats that we have been getting, numerous Black Lives Matter representatives, NAACP had have received death threats. So we have just been taking precautions when it comes to who is coming to the precinct.
A number of African-American males went over to the guys and basically asked them, what are you here for? If you’re going to be here, you have to take off your mask. The gunmen were not cooperative and so the African-American males proceeded to walk them away. Mind you, these are our heroes because there was a child that was three years old, another child that was eight years old, right beside me. We were less than 25 feet away from the gunman. Who would have known what they would have done if they could have opened up fire on all of us? And these heroes — I call them heroes, the gentlemen that got shot, the people that got maced, the people that walked them away down the street. But it almost seemed like it was a plot, or they were luring them down the street away so then the police officers could say they didn’t see anything, when in actuality, they heard the shots just like I heard the shots.
There were over 10 shots fired. The police officers didn’t do anything. It seemed like they could of been in cahoots. They didn’t do anything when they came over the precinct. They just locked. I told someone to move the three-year-old and the eight-year-old child back towards the wall. And then I was on the phone with Jason Sole who’s the head of the NAACP Criminal Justice Committee, and I was telling him what happened, and he wanted me to confirm. You know, did someone actually get shot? And so, I really wanted to confirm myself but I was extremely nervous because I didn’t know if the gunman was still there shooting.
Nevertheless, I was courageous and I went and I saw one person wounded, shot in their leg. Another person wounded on the ground with a gun wound to the stomach. Everyone was going crazy trying to figure out what was going on. At the time I didn’t realize there was three other people had been wounded, but, they had transportation coming to get them. Because, like I said, at this point, it’s like 15 minutes that’s passed. No police officers have come out, no ambulances come, no anything. Mind you, we’re right down the street from the precinct. I’ve seen the police officers. They were just peeking their head over the precinct doors with ski a mask on so we could not see their face.
So then I went back, moved the kids towards the precinct building. And then I told them to take them to the car because the police officers are just standing there doing nothing. I felt like we were really in danger, as if there was a war going on in our own backyard. So they took the kids to the car. I heard one of the police officers oversay, they taken their kids to the car. They know what is going on and they have no intention to help us, stop it, do anything.
So some police cars started to come up. I was looking. Like 20 police officers with their guns went running into the crowd. You would think they would run and actually help the witnesses, but instead, they started to Mace the witnesses, they started to push them back. They did not ask for any witness, any eye testimonies, no anything until long after, maybe an hour after everything had transpired. The way they have treated the peaceful protesters and the way that they didn’t come and help — even yesterday I was at the hospital with one of the guys that got shot, Cameron Clark, all night, and he said they just left him there, basically, for dead. Like, they were just waiting to leave. And it hurts you, you know? When you stood up for what you believe in and stood up for justice and also tried to protect people, and the thanks that you get is the police, basically tell you, this is what you ax for?
I later found out that they were gunmen. At the time, all we knew is that they had on ski masks. They had like a bag in their hand. They had a couple of signs in their hands. I don’t know what they had in the bag. Again, we have no idea what they had planned. If those individuals, those heroes didn’t walk them away from the scene.
the police came swarming from the same areas that the gunman fled into. Like I said, they took their precious time. So, I do agree with her, and I’d also like to say, you know, I didn’t grow up in household that was scared of police. I know that there is a lot of African-Americans in America lifestyle and basically their experience, but I grew up in Washington, D.C. I had uncles that were police officers cousins that were police officers. I really looked at these people to protect and serve. But what I’ve been seeing over the past week, I wouldn’t put anything past the police officers.
I was out there when they were macing us, when they were shooting us with rubber bullets, when they were throwing tear gas at us for no reason; literally, we were peaceful. Do not believe what the media feeds you. No one was doing anything to those officers. And then when I was actually on the ground and I saw those police officers come over the precinct for the first time with the ski masks on, that looked exactly like the people that ended up being the gunman. It’s like, how do you not make the correlation? And then they didn’t come to help these men, it seemed like they were in cahoots.
I cannot say for sure I know that they did it, but the belief is definitely there and the people who were there we definitely feel like the police could have definitely had something to do with it. In addition, the gentlemen who all got shot were the same ones who were, like, in the front lines of the protest out there every day fussing with the police officers, telling them they that they were doing injustice. So, I just don’t think that those are all coincidences.
Cameron Clark, he is the cousin — I actually went to the hospital about 2:00 a.m. and I stayed until probably 5:30 p.m. until he was released because we did not want to leave him there by himself just because of all of the shady things that have been going on. Cameron is in really good spirits. He was shot twice, one in the leg and one in the foot. He actually went to the protest yesterday evening against my better judgment. I told him that he should go get some rest. But, he really is passionate about this. He really didn’t want to leave his brothers and sisters out there. And he didn’t want these gunmen and the police to think that they won, because we think that this was a plot to try to get us to go away. But, we want them to know that we are only coming out stronger because we are standing on the side of justice, we are standing on the right side of history. And these people that were shot are heroes of society. The other individuals that got shot, they had to go into surgery, and they’re still hospitalized, from my understanding. But, Cameron was released. I was there when he was released. I stayed with him the entire time.
__________
Leslie Redmond
eyewitness to Monday evening’s shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is a student at The University of St. Thomas School of Law and president of the Black Law Student Association.
— source democracynow.org