US protesters call for action against officers in black man killing

Protesters have taken to the streets in the US city of Minneapolis, calling for the indictment of white police officers involved in the shooting death of an African American back in November.

The demonstrators, among them human rights activists, who rallied inside the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis on Friday, held placards reading, “Indict white supremacy.”

They also carried placards reading, "Any system that deprives you of your right to life and your right to live as a free human being is criminal. It's a criminal system."

Officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze, both white, fatally shot 24-year-old Jamar Clark in an altercation in November 15. Clark died of his wounds the next day.

Eyewitnesses said the man was shot “execution-style” as he was handcuffed, but Minneapolis police insisted that Clark was not in handcuffs.

Local authorities refused to charge the policemen in March, arguing that they were justifiably in fear for their lives as Clark tried to get hold of an officer's gun.

The officers, however, still face a federal investigation into whether they violated Clark's civil rights, officials said.

“I'm confident they will find no civil rights violations," said Bob Kroll, the head of police union, who believes that the internal review will clear both cops.

Police officials insisted that Ringgenberg and Schwarze should remain on desk duty.

Clark’s death sparked demonstrations in the city's small but concentrated minority community. Friday’s rally was the second of such demonstrations this week.

Several high-profile police killings of African Americans have sparked nationwide protests in the United States over the past two years.

According to a study released in January, a total of 1134 people were killed by American cops, marking a sharp increase compared to the 444 cases that the FBI had logged in 2014.

Young black men aged between 15 and 34 comprised more than 15 percent of the figure, which is five times higher than white men of the same age.

African Americans account for two percent of America’s total population. This is while, according to the Mapping Police Violence project, 40 percent of the police killings in the country’s 60 biggest police departments were black.

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