Jamar Clark

Jamar Clark, 24, was shot in the head by Minneapolis Police Officer Dustin Schwarze on November 15, 2015, during a struggle after officers responded to a report that Clark had assaulted his girlfriend and interfered with paramedics. Witnesses at the scene told police and reporters Clark was handcuffed when he was shot; the shooting sparked an 18-day protest encampment outside the police department's Fourth Precinct. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, bypassing the customary use of a grand jury, announced in March 2016 that DNA evidence and the absence of bruising on Clark's wrists showed he was not handcuffed and had grabbed at an officer's gun, and declined to bring charges. The U.S. Attorney's Office separately declined federal civil rights charges months later, and the police department cleared both officers of any policy violation. No one has ever been charged in Clark's death.

Minneapolis, MN · Hennepin County

• 2015: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The struggle and the shooting, per the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's investigation and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman's detailed public presentation of the evidence.
• Multiple eyewitnesses at the scene told police and media that Clark was handcuffed when he was shot; other witnesses gave conflicting accounts, some saying his hands were up or he was lying still.
• Freeman announced in March 2016 that DNA testing found no trace of Clark's DNA on the handcuffs and no bruising consistent with cuffing on his wrists, and that officer Ringgenberg reported feeling Clark's hand move his holstered gun during the struggle.
• Freeman broke from the county's prior practice of using a secret grand jury for police-shooting decisions, instead announcing the charging decision himself after a lengthy public presentation of evidence.
• The U.S. Attorney's Office for Minnesota announced in June 2016 that there was insufficient evidence to bring federal civil rights charges against officers Ringgenberg and Schwarze.
• Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau publicly stated she supported the officers' actions after an internal review found no policy violation, meaning neither officer faced any discipline.

• Why so many witnesses at the scene independently reported seeing Clark handcuffed, directly contradicting the forensic conclusions Freeman's office relied on, has never been reconciled.
• Whether Clark in fact reached for the officer's gun, as Ringgenberg reported feeling during the struggle, or whether the physical evidence supporting that account could be explained another way, was disputed by community members who reviewed the same presentation.
• No video captured the shooting itself with sufficient clarity to independently resolve either account, despite some cellphone footage of the aftermath.

• NBC News — “No Civil Rights Charges in Shooting of Jamar Clark”
• CNN — “Minneapolis police clear officers in fatal shooting of Jamar Clark”
• BlackPast.org — “Jamar O'Neal Clark (1991-2015)”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs