A Minnesota police officer recently shot and killed an unarmed black man, Jamar Clark, under very suspicious circumstances, and the police department's failure to come clean isn't doing anything to inspire public trust. The shooting was recently declared a homicide by Hennepin County's Medical Examiner, but further investigation is needed to help the public understand how this happened and how it can be prevented in the future.
The police officer who did the shooting should be more than willing to make sure the truth is known. Please join with me in asking Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton to appoint a civilian review board to investigate the incident. A civilian review board will reduce the chances that investigating officers will be involved who have a conflict of interest or may be prejudiced in favor of law enforcement.
Dear Governor Dayton:
We the undersigned are saddened to hear that an unarmed black man was killed by a Minnesota police officer and that the county medical examiner believes it was homicide. Obviously, police officers should be vetted for violent tendencies. They should also be well trained to avoid shooting innocent people. We believe that you should appoint an independent civilian review board to examine the circumstances surrounding this incident and report their findings to the public. The public has a right to know that the incident has been fully investigated and that the state and local police departments will take steps to ensure it never happens again.
