Hundreds of demonstrators gather on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at the Hennepin County Government Center to protest the Hennepin County District Attorney's decision to not prosecute two Minneapolis Police Officer for the shooting death of North Minneapolis resident Jamar Clark. The group marched from the shooting site on Plymouth Avenue to the Hennepin County Government Center. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
Two demonstrators hold hands during a march for Jamar Clark. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
A family looks on from their front step as a protest march proceeds toward downtown Minneapolis during a march to protest the Hennepin County Attorney's decision not to charge two Minneapolis police officers in the shooting death of North Minneapolis resident Jamar Clark. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
Demonstrators march past a mural of Bob Dylan in Minneapolis as they head to the Hennepin County Government Center while protesting the Hennepin County Attorney's decision to not prosecute two Minneapolis police officers in the shooting death of North Minneapolis resident Jamar Clark. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
Donyae Finish implores those gathered to use their minds to make things better during the Jamar Clark march. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
A protester holds up a sign outside the Hennepin County Government Center during a rally in support of Jamar Clark on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Andy Rathbun)
Bamechtric Beasley, 10, and his mom, LaToya, march during a protest of the Hennepin County Attorney's decision to not prosecute two Minneapolis police officers in the shooting death of North Minneapolis resident Jamar Clark. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
Police block traffic as protesters march through downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Andy Rathbun)
Donnie Straub hold a sign proclaiming "Justice for Jamar" as bike police work the intersections behind him during a march to protest the Hennepin County Attorney's decision to not prosecute two Minneapolis police officer for the shooting death of North Minneapolis resident Jamar Clark. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
A man records Jayanthi Kyle as she speaks to a crowd gathering in support of Jamar Clark outside the Hennepin County Government Center on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Andy Rathbun)
A protestor gives the peace sign to passing traffic during a march to protest the Hennepin County Attorney's decision to not prosecute two Minneapolis police officers in the shooting death of Jamar Clark. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
Protesters work their way down Hennepin Avenue en route to the Hennepin County Government Center. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
Protestors head into downtown Minneapolis death of North Minneapolis resident Jamar Clark. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
A spectator records marchers on a cellphone as protesters head to the Hennepin County Government Center on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
Protesters march through downtown Minneapolis where they rallied in support of Jamar Clark on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Andy Rathbun)
Pastor Danny Givens leads protesters during a rally outside the Hennepin County Government Center on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Black Lives Matter and other groups were protesting the decision not to charge two police officers involved in the shooting death of Jamar Clark. (Pioneer Press: Andy Rathbun)
Black Lives Matter protesters March to Minneapolis city hall Wednesday, March 30, 2016 in response to the fact the Hennepin County attorney's decision not to charge officers in the shooting death of Jamar Clark. (Pioneer Press: Andy Rathbun)
Demonstrators gather in front of the 4th precinct building on Plymouth Avenue in North Minneapolis to protest the Hennepin County District Attorney's decision to not prosecute two Minneapolis Police Officer for the shooting death of North Minneapolis resident Jamar Clark. The March from the shooting site on Plymouth Avenue to the Hennepin County Government Center took place on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
Candles light the base of a memorial to Jamar Clark on Plymouth Avenue in North Minneapolis. Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
People stand around the memorial for Jamar Clark, who was shot and killed at this spot on Plymouth Avenue North in Minneapolis, photographed Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
Joyce Powell pays her respects at the memorial for her brother Jamar Clark, who was shot and killed at this spot on Plymouth Avenue North in Minneapolis, photographed Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
A handmade sign at the memorial for Jamar Clark, who was shot and killed at this spot on Plymouth Avenue North in Minneapolis, photographed Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
Three girls, who did not want their names used, sign the memorial for Jamar Clark, who was shot and killed at this spot on Plymouth Avenue North in Minneapolis, photographed Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
People gather at the site, marked with posters, flowers, balloons and stuffed animals, where Jamar Clark was shot and killed on Plymouth Avenue in Minneapolis on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
People walk past the Minneapolis Fourth Police Precinct headquarters on Plymouth Avenue in Minneapolis on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
An undated photo released by his sister Javille Burns shows Jamar Clark. Clark, 24, died after being shot by Minneapolis police officer on Nov. 15, 2015. (Jamar Clark/Javille Burns via AP, File)
Protesters occupy the lobby and the sidewalk in front of the Minneapolis Police Fourth Precinct headquarters building on Plymouth Avenue North in Minneapolis on Monday, Nov. 16, 2015. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
Protesters, from left: Junauda Petrus, Khadra Ali, Nimisha Nagalia, Hani Ali, Kandace Montgomery and Nimo Omar occupy the front entrance of the Minneapolis Police Fourth Precinct headquarters building on Plymouth Avenue North in Minneapolis on Monday, Nov. 16, 2015. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
Jamar Clark's sister, Danielle Burns, right, grieves as she and other family members gather during a news conference held by the Minneapolis Urban League, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Black Lives Matter supporters embrace after Minneapolis police poured water to extinguish an encampment fire as they continued their protest, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, outside the Fourth Precinct in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
During a Thursday Nov. 19, 2015 news conference, Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau holds a chunk of pavement that she said was thrown at officers outside the 4th Precinct station Wednesday night on the citys North Side. (photo courtesy Minneapolis Police)
A tearful Helen Taylor reaches out to touch the memorial to Jamar Clark at the spot where he was killed on Plymouth Avenue North, before she rejoined the large crowd protesting the shooting and killing which marched from the Minneapolis Police Fourth Precinct in North Minneapolis to City Hall in downtown Minneapolis on Tuesday, November 24, 2015. The rally was organized by Black Lives Matter. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
A large crowd of people, protesting the Jamar Clark shooting and killing, marched from the Minneapolis Police Fourth Precinct in North Minneapolis over the North 10th Street bridge near Target Field (shown here) to City Hall in downtown Minneapolis, disrupting traffic along the way, on Tuesday, November 24, 2015. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
A protester lies down in the road to try to direct a motorist away from the marchers, as a large crowd of people, protesting the Jamar Clark shooting and killing, marched from the Minneapolis Police Fourth Precinct in North Minneapolis to City Hall in downtown Minneapolis, disrupting traffic along the way, on Tuesday, November 24, 2015. The rally was organized by Black Lives Matter. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
Jamar Clark's mother, front left, and other family members enter Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis before the visitation and funeral of Jamar on Wednesday, November 25, 2015.(Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri)
A woman is helped after she falls to the sidewalk crying after walking out the doors of Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis at the beginning of the funeral of funeral of Jamar Clark on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015. (Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri)
A demonstrator rallys the crowd of about the 200 people in a snow storm during the Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Minneapolis Police Department 4th Precinct building on Plymouth Avenue in North Minneapolis on Monday, November 30, 2015. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
A abandoned sign slowly freezes to the ground during the Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Minneapolis Police Department 4th Precinct building on Plymouth Avenue in North Minneapolis on Monday, November 30, 2015. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
A protester, bottom left, photographs police officers who closed off the east entrance, as Black Lives Matter protested at the Mall of America in Bloomington on Wednesday, December 23, 2015. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrate outside Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport's Humphrey Terminal on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015. (Pioneer Press: Nick Woltman)
Black Lives Matter protested the police killings of Jamar Clark and Marcus Golden by blocking traffic on the Lake Street Bridge over the Mississippi River on Monday, January 18, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
Black Lives Matter protested the police killings of Jamar Clark and Marcus Golden by blocking traffic on the Lake Street Bridge over the Mississippi River on Monday, January 18, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
People gather Wednesday at the site on Plymouth Ave. in Minneapolis, marked with posters, flowers, balloons and stuffed animals, where Jamar Clark was shot. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
Details of the memorial are postedl for Jamar Clark, who was shot and killed at this spot on Plymouth Avenue North in Minneapolis, photographed Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
Activists fed up with police violence against African-Americans turned their anger toward Hennepin County’s top prosecutor Wednesday after he declined to charge two police officers in the shooting death of 24-year-old Jamar Clark.
Several hundred demonstrators gathered in two groups Wednesday evening at the downtown Elliot Park and at the site of the Nov. 15 shooting in Minneapolis. Many marched more than two miles to the Hennepin County Government Center, chanting “No justice, no peace. Prosecute the police.” Many later returned to the Fourth Precinct, the site of an 18-day encampment by protesters after the shooting.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Wednesday morning he would not charge officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze in Clark’s death.
Freeman, who had been praised for seizing the charging decision from the grand jury in the name of transparency, concluded Clark never was handcuffed and had grabbed hold of Ringgenberg’s gun before Schwarze shot Clark in the head. Eyewitness testimony conflicted on that issue, but Freeman said forensic evidence supported his conclusion.
Speaking to the group gathered near the site of Clark’s death, activist Mel Reeves called Freeman a liar.
“He disrespected us. He lied to our face like we are stupid,” he said. “We know Jamar Clark was murdered on this spot.”
Teto Wilson, who said he witnessed Clark’s shooting, also criticized Freeman at the Plymouth Avenue rally.
“I couldn’t believe what I was watching. My eyes didn’t lie to me,” he said.
After Freeman’s announcement, Raeisha Williams, communications director for the Minneapolis NAACP, told him that “if the city burns, it’s on your hands.”
Mica Grimm, a leader of Black Lives Matter’s Minneapolis chapter, called Freeman’s summary of the case “fake.” She said if activists can’t find justice at the courthouse, they’ll “find it in the streets.”
Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau promised her officers would prioritize safety and “exercise restraint” during protests.
“Their actions will be based on the actions of others,” she said.
The department briefly deployed officers in riot gear for a man assembling a makeshift traffic blockade outside 1611 Plymouth Ave. N., where Clark was killed.
Demonstrations, however, remained peaceful for much of the night, even as the crowd gathered outside the government center swelled to perhaps 1,000.
Light-rail trains were delayed and vehicle traffic slowed as protesters marched to the government center. Police directed vehicle traffic away from the heart of the protest, but no uniformed officers could be seen anywhere near the plaza.
The Rev. Brian Herron, pastor at Zion Baptist Church in North Minneapolis, urged a group of protesters to stay out of trouble in order to keep the focus on the police officers’ actions.
“If we act up and act out, the spotlight is going to be taken off the police and onto the community. We’re not going to let them off the hook, and we are not going to give them what they want,” he said.
The Rev. Carmen Means, pastor at The Movement Church in South Minneapolis, would echo that sentiment.
“What white folks tolerate, we will demonstrate,” she said. “They thought that when they gave out the news today, that it would destroy us. They thought that we would tear Plymouth Avenue up; they thought that we would burn the houses down; they thought that we would kill our own people. But we are an intelligent people that have banded together to make a point.”
Clark’s nephew Michael Burns also addressed the throngs of demonstrators.
“I think they should stop judging our past and judge our future,” the man said. “Some people go through the dirt and climb up … and that’s what (Clark) was trying to do.”
Later in the night, the crowd returned to the site of the shooting, where organizers played upbeat music and urged demonstrators not to conceal their faces.
But tensions rose when the crowd advanced to the Fourth Precinct police headquarters, which had been the site of an 18-day encampment following Clark’s death nearby. After 10 p.m. Wednesday, they chanted “Indict, convict, send those killer cops to jail.”
A small group burned American flags and set fire to a mailbox-sized free library in front of the building. A man climbed atop the building and others banged on windows as officers calmly retreated indoors.
Now burning the Little Free Library out front. Woman in pink said, "Come on, I like books!" pic.twitter.com/lwwBn6gwjE
Organizers said they would return to the government center at noon Friday, as they’ve done regularly for some time, and continue to demand the prosecution of the officers.
Some of Clark’s supporters attended the press conference Wednesday where Freeman detailed the circumstances around the shooting.
The violence began, he said, when Clark refused to take his hands out of his pockets and Ringgenberg forced him to the ground — following training he received while working in San Diego. In the scrum, Ringgenberg reportedly felt Clark’s hand on his gun against his back, so he instructed his partner to shoot.
Schwarze pointed his gun and warned Clark, who responded that he was “ready to die,” the officers said.
Clark supporters questioned the officer’s decision to tackle Clark in the first place.
John Parker, a lifelong North Minneapolis resident who attended the rally, said Freeman’s decision not to prosecute the officers will only further reinforce his community’s reluctance to turn to the police for help.
“You know they aren’t going to do the right thing,” he said.
Josh Verges, Tory Cooney, Frederick Melo, Andy Rathbun and Jamie DeLage contributed to this report.
Here’s what’s happened over the last few months since the incident: