In this Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015 photo, Jeremiah Ellison, center right, son of U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, stands near police during a protest at the Minneapolis Police Department 4th Precinct building in Minneapolis. People were protesting the fatal shooting of Jamal Clark by Minneapolis police on Sunday. (Renee Jones Schneider/Star Tribune via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES LOCAL TELEVISION OUT
The Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Civil rights leaders appealed Thursday for Minneapolis police to exercise restraint but the head of the police union said officers should get tougher with protesters after a night of tense confrontations over the fatal shooting of a black man by an officer.
The contrasting responses showed the strong emotion surrounding the incident four days after Jamar Clark, 24, was shot in the head during a confrontation with two officers.
Police said he was a suspect in an assault and was interfering with paramedics trying to treat the victim. The state agency investigating the shooting, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, is looking into claims that Clark was handcuffed. The head of the Minneapolis police union said Thursday that Clark had his hands on an officer's gun. Authorities have said no other weapons were found at the scene.
Police used a chemical irritant against protesters Wednesday night outside a north Minneapolis police station where demonstrators have gathered since the shooting.
The public response Thursday included a tweet from U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, whose son Jeremiah was shown in a Star Tribune photo that also included an officer in the background pointing a gun at a crowd of protesters.
"Photo is agonizing for me to see. My son is PEACEFULLY protesting w/ hands up; officer is shouldering gun. Why?" tweeted Ellison, a Minneapolis Democrat who is black.
Police said the officer's weapon shown in the photo fired non-lethal rounds that could be used to mark law-breaking protesters with chalk. Police spokesman John Elder said the gun wasn't pointed at Jeremiah Ellison.
Chief Janee Harteau said Thursday that officers themselves had been hit with pepper spray, Molotov cocktails, bottles, rocks and bricks.
Harteau said police would pursue arrests where they had evidence, but Bob Kroll, head of the Minneapolis police union, said the department should be moving more forcefully, including removal of tents that some protesters have set up outside the north side's 4th Precinct.
"It's chaos," Kroll said. "The officers are worn down."
He added of the protesters: "They should not have been allowed to pitch one tent, set one fire, or block the entryway for one minute."
Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis NAACP, said police need to back down.
"It shows a militarization of the police force in the city of Minneapolis," Levy-Pounds said.
The NAACP called for a candlelight vigil and march at the station starting at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
This undated photo released by his sister Javille Burns shows Jamar Clark, who was fatally shot in a confrontation with police on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015, in Minneapolis. The state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on Wednesday, Nov. 18, which is leading an outside investigation of Sunday's fatal shooting of the unarmed black man, released the names of two Minneapolis police officers involved as Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze. (Jamar Clark/Javille Burns via AP)
The Associated Press
Nekima Levy-Pounds, center, president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, renewed demands for investigators to release videos of the fatal shooting by Minneapolis police of Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man, while speaking at the Black Lives Matter encampment outside the Minneapolis police department's Fourth Precinct, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
The Associated Press
Nekima Levy-Pounds, center, president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, renewed demands for investigators to release videos of the fatal shooting by Minneapolis police of Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man, while speaking at the Black Lives Matter encampment outside the Minneapolis police department's Fourth Precinct, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
The Associated Press
Protesters listened as Nekima Levy-Pounds, center, president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, renewed demands for investigators to release videos of the fatal shooting by Minneapolis police of Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man, while speaking at the Black Lives Matter encampment outside the Minneapolis police department's Fourth Precinct, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
The Associated Press
A protester puts wood on a warming fire, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, as Black Lives Matter demonstrators maintained their encampment outside the Minneapolis Police Department's Fourth Precinct in Minneapolis. The fatal shooting of Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man by a Minneapolis police officer, has pushed racial tensions in the city's small but concentrated minority community to the fore, with the police precinct besieged by the makeshift encampment and many protesters. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
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Protesters hang around the warming fire, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, at the Black Lives Matter encampment outside the Minneapolis Police Department's Fourth Precinct in Minneapolis. The fatal shooting of Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man by a Minneapolis police officer, has pushed racial tensions in the city's small but concentrated minority community to the fore, with the police precinct besieged by the makeshift encampment and many protesters.(AP Photo/Jim Mone)
The Associated Press
A Minneapolis police officer, top left, drinks a soda as a protester maintains a warming fire, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, at the Black Lives Matter encampment outside the Minneapolis Police Department's Fourth Precinct in Minneapolis. The fatal shooting of Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man by a Minneapolis police officer, has pushed racial tensions in the city's small but concentrated minority community to the fore, with the police precinct besieged by the makeshift encampment and many protesters. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
The Associated Press
A woman eats a slice of pizza from a food tent at the Black Lives Matter encampment outside the Minneapolis Police Department's Fourth Precinct, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, in Minneapolis. The fatal shooting of Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man by a Minneapolis police officer, has pushed racial tensions in the city's small but concentrated minority community to the fore, with the police precinct besieged by the makeshift encampment and many protesters.(AP Photo/Jim Mone)
The Associated Press
Food and coffee is available to demonstrators at the Black Lives Matter encampment outside the Minneapolis Police Department's Fourth Precinct, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, in Minneapolis. The fatal shooting of Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man by a Minneapolis police officer, has pushed racial tensions in the city's small but concentrated minority community to the fore, with the police precinct besieged by the makeshift encampment and many protesters.(AP Photo/Jim Mone)
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Police spray a chemical irritant as demonstrators besiege the Minneapolis Police Department Fourth Precinct building in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Protesters have been camping outside the building since the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a Minneapolis police officer on Sunday. Jamar Clark, 24, was shot in the head early Sunday and died at a hospital the next day. Protests started within hours as some neighbors said Clark had been handcuffed when he was shot, which contradicted statements by the Minneapolis police. Tensions escalated again Wednesday night as a crowd outside the precinct office near where Clark was shot grew. (John Autey/Pioneer Press via AP)
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Pastor Tanden Brekke, right, pleads with police officers to de-escalate the situation as demonstrators besiege the Minneapolis Police Department Fourth Precinct building in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Protesters have been camping outside the building since the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a Minneapolis police officer on Sunday. Jamar Clark, 24, was shot in the head early Sunday and died at a hospital the next day. Protests started within hours as some neighbors said Clark had been handcuffed when he was shot, which contradicted statements by the Minneapolis police. Tensions escalated again Wednesday night as a crowd outside the precinct office near where Clark was shot grew. (John Autey/Pioneer Press via AP)
The Associated Press
A Minneapolis police officer maintains a barricade outside the Minneapolis Police Departments Fourth Precinct building in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening, Nov. 18, 2015. Protesters have been camping outside the building since the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a Minneapolis police officer on Sunday. Jamar Clark, 24, was shot in the head early Sunday and died at a hospital the next day. Protests started within hours as some neighbors said Clark had been handcuffed when he was shot, which contradicted statements by the Minneapolis police. (John Autey/Pioneer Press via AP)
The Associated Press