Community
members gather for a Black Lives Matter demonstration outside the offices of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, the Minneapolis PoliceDepartment's union on December 3, 2015. Photo: Tony Webstertony@tonywebster.com. |
On November 15, 2015, 24-year-old
Jamar Clark was shot and killed by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. That
shooting was recorded on building security cameras, witness cellphones, and an
ambulance dashboard camera. The police say that no footage of the shooting was
recorded on body cameras or dashboard cameras.
Investigators seized the
various videos as evidence and, as the investigation into Clark’s death is
still ongoing, they have refused to release that footage to the public. They argue
that a release of the video would hurt the case.
While they may have a point
that releasing the video might harm the case, there is a strong precedent for
the public having access to those videos. The videos were taken by private
business and citizens and they should have the right to do with those videos as
they please.
Witnesses claim that Clark was
on the ground and handcuffed when he was fatally shot. If that were true it
would serve as a clear example of police using excessive force. This abuse of
power has been a frequent topic of public discourse for the last two years. It’s
not a new idea.
Activist groups have filed
a lawsuit against Minnesota state agencies—the Public Safety Commission,
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Department of Public Safety. The suit
was filed in Ramsey County District Court by the Minneapolis branch of the
NAACP, the ACLU, and others. They claim the state’s Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) as a primary basis for the suit.
The lawsuit did not specify
footage that might be held, but did claim that it could shed light on the case
and help determine what happened. That is the reason the police are holding
those videos.
The act of withholding them
from the public doesn’t cast the investigation in the best light. Much of the
discourse around police use of force lately has bee about the lack of
transparency in the investigation of that force.
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