Family, supporters remember Jamar Clark one year after he was fatally shot by Minneapolis police officer

Exactly one year ago, Tiffany Burns got a call in the middle of the night to inform her that her 24-year-old brother, Jamar Clark, had been shot by Minneapolis police. The memory of that phone call kept Burns from sleeping Monday night.

On Tuesday, she gathered with members of Clark's family and about a hundred others near where Clark was fatally shot Nov. 15, 2015.

They paid their respects and voiced their frustration that the officers involved in Clark's death were not disciplined.

"It's been a whole year of sadness, disappointment," Burns said. She wore a white sweatshirt with Jamar Clark's photo printed on it.

"It's been a year of feeling overwhelmed and not vindicated, at all," she said. "We are still seeking closure for this."

Clark's family members have said they plan to file a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city, contending that Clark's shooting could have been averted. Burns, however, says she doesn't care. She just wants justice.

"I just want to see that person in jail. Period. Then I will have closure," Burns said.

Officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze were cleared of any criminal or civil wrongdoing in separate state and federal investigations and are back on duty.

In an e-mail released late Monday evening, Mayor Betsy Hodges offered her condolences to Clark's family and the community and acknowledged the anger people felt following his death.

"I know — we know — that police-community relations in Minneapolis have been in need of transformation for long time, much longer than the past year. Especially in, for, and with communities of color," Hodges said in the statement. Hodges also outlined several initiatives, from bodycams to bias training, that have been put in place to improve police-community relations.

On Tuesday, Clark's family led a march from Broadway and Emerson avenues to a stage in front of the Fourth Precinct on Plymouth Avenue.

Outside, feet from where protesters occupied the street for 18 days following his death, Clark's nieces and nephews performed to Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come."

Adja Monsio spoke to a crowd of mostly relatives wearing Saint Jamar Day T-shirts about Clark's importance to the community.

"Jamar didn't just affect Minneapolis. He impacted the world," Monsio said. "Jamar has brought us together."

The anniversary of Clark's death wasn't lost on protesters who rallied outside the Ramsey County Courthouse on Thursday in memory of another black man killed by local police. Louis B. Hunter was scheduled to appear in court that day for protesting on Interstate 94 against the killing of his cousin, Philando Castile, on July 6..

Castile, 32, was fatally shot by St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights.

"As a community, we've made great strides toward justice and mobilizing," said Pastor Danny Givens Jr., a clergy liaison with Black Lives Matter Minneapolis who rallied in support of Hunter and was at Clark's anniversary gathering. "We have brought the plight of our people to the front doors of both liberal and conservative Minnesotans."

Later, the crowd marched from the precinct station to a tree adorned in memorabilia. They lighted candles and released red and black balloons. At this point the crowd grew to about 150 people.

After the family left, many stayed behind, often raising their hands and chanting, "What are we here for? Jamar Clark."

Staff writers Libor Jany and Chao Xiong contributed to this report.

Karen Zamora • 612-673-4647

Twitter: @KarenAnelZamora