A decade after Jamar Clark’s killing changes continue

Before George Floyd. Before Philando Castile. Activists in Twin Cities streets were chanting Jamar Clark’s name.

It was nearly ten years ago that the killing of Clark, a 24-year-old Black man, during a confrontation with two white Minneapolis police officers sparked spirited protests in the Twin Cities, and a more than two-week occupation outside the north Minneapolis police precinct.

Even though the officers involved in Clark's killing were never charged, many people see Clark’s death as a turning point in the fight for police accountability and racial justice, when the system finally started to flex to respond to their anger over killings of civilians by police officers.

People close to the case say they can see a throughline as the momentum built in those early protests after Clark’s