The two police officers involved in the shooting death of Jamar Clark in November 2015 followed procedure and won’t be disciplined, the Minneapolis Police Department announced Friday.
MPD Chief Janee Harteau said the decision came after an exhaustive internal investigation surrounding the officers — Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze — involved in the shooting death of Jamar Clark, according to a news release.
“I have concluded the use of deadly force in the line of duty was necessary to protect an officer from apparent death or great bodily harm,” she said in the release. “We have concluded there were no violations of MPD policy.”
Two internal affairs investigators examined Clark’s shooting and found that the techniques the officers used when they confronted and took down Clark were justified.
Harteau’s decision follows other investigations that have found no wrongdoing with the officers’ actions. In March, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman declined to press charges against the two officers, and in June, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that Ringgenberg and Schwarze would not face federal civil rights charges.
Police shot Clark last November in a confrontation. Clark’s death sparked numerous protests over the incident and generated discussion about excessive use of force by police and police treatment of minorities.
In the statement, Harteau said she will meet with community leaders to discuss her decision.
“I want to first acknowledge the devastating loss that left the Clark family without a son and brother. I did not want to talk publicly about this case until I met with the family,” she said in the statement. “It is also important for me to recognize that this incident has had a profound impact on our city’s residents, communities, civic leaders and our police officers.”