Minneapolis, MN — Amid the pop and wail of fireworks, the family of Jamar Clark unveiled a marble stone bench near the place he took his last breath. The bench unveiling came after an event commemorating ten years to the day that 24-year-old Jamar Clark was fatally shot by Minneapolis Police. Jamar’s mother Irma Burns thanked those in attendance for being there “to keep Jamar’s spirit and legacy alive.”

The bench includes an image of Clark emblazoned on the right side. Text lasered into the left of the bench reads “I have a purpose” and the center rectangle reads “In loving memory of Jamar Clark 1991-2015.”

“I have a purpose” was part of the last social media post that Jamar Clark posted before he was killed.

The family, who held fundraisers and car washes to get the bench paid for, thanked the donors as well as the Black Collective Foundation who they noted provided a bulk of the funds.

Surrounding the bench was a crowd of family, friends, activists, advocates, and community members who had marched a few blocks east from where a commemorative event for Clark was held.

At the event, the family shared memories of Jamar and the Reinvestigations Workgroup presented evidence which they deem sufficient enough to lead to a new investigation into his killing. In 2016, officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze were exonerated of charges by Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

Watch the 10 year anniversary event below.

“That bench means a lot,” said Jamar’s mother, “it has a purpose.” Burns recounted a time in which an angry community member calmed down after sitting on Jamar’s bench — an older bench for Jamar Clark sits across Plymouth Avenue from his death site for years. She said he told her that he was “getting ready to do something really crazy and he sat on the bench and it took away whatever it was that day that he was about to do.” This new bench has it’s purpose and “is not there just for show,” said Irma.

Memorials for victims of state violence are sought after by impacted families and hard to obtain. The burdensome task to get public memorials approved by city officials and high costs of memorials are obstacles for families.

The police killing of Jamar Clark led to a 18-day occupation outside of the Minneapolis Police’s 4th Precinct. Happening a year after the Black Lives Matter movement hit the streets of Ferguson in response to Mike Brown being killed by police, the Justice for Jamar protests endured a litany of challenges from violent police to a white supremacist mass shooting. Police evicted the encampment in early December. Stay tuned for Unicorn Riot’s upcoming documentary on the community uprising.

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