MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 22 (UPI) — Minneapolis police cleared two white police officers in the shooting death of black suspect Jamar Clark after investigators found they did not violate the department’s use-of-force policy.
Investigators determined Officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze will not face disciplinary action following an internal affairs review. This clears the officers,who have been on desk duty since the shooting, to return to regular patrols. The officers had been previously cleared of any criminal and civil wrongdoing in separate state and federal investigations.
“I have concluded these officers did not dictate the outcome of this incident. This was an outcome no one wanted,” Police Chief Janee Harteau said Friday.
Albert Goins, an attorney for the Clark family, told CNN they were unhappy with the internal investigation and said officers were given “every benefit of the doubt.”
“So far as I can see this was not a thorough or full-fledged internal investigation,” he said.
The incident unfolded in November 2015, when police responded to a domestic disturbance call. Police said Clark interfered with paramedics and fought with police. They shot Clark, 24 and unarmed, in the head, touching off weeks of protests that shut down highways and led to dozens of arrests.
Some eyewitnesses said they saw Clark handcuffed when he was shot, but investigators said they were not able to prove the claim. In March, local officialsdeclined to pursue criminal charges against the officers because they acted in self defense. In June, federal prosecutors said they would not pursue civil chargesagainst the officers because there was “insufficient evidence.”
