Man shot at City Hall has court appearance rescheduled
MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - UPDATE: The Hennepin County Attorney's office announced Wednesday morning that the court will be postponing Fischer's initial appearance until Jan. 3 at 1:30 p.m.
Marcus Fischer, the 18-year-old who was shot by police in Minneapolis’ City Hall last week, had a court appearance delayed Tuesday while he remains in the hospital with serious injuries.
Fischer was supposed to face a Hennepin County judge for a Dec. 13 robbery and assault, Tuesday, but was unable to attend after an incident on Dec. 18 during which he was shot while being questioned by police about his role in the crime.
The courtroom was packed with family, friends and supporters of Marcus Fischer, but as things were about to get underway the judge said the matter would not be heard. That's when the group--including members of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar--went marching to the county attorney's office.
From the courtroom to the government center, the group supporting Marcus Fischer moved their efforts to the lobby of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman's office--where they were met by Freeman's communications director.
“I have to tell them I don't know," spokesperson Chuck Laszewski said.
"We want you to do the work to find out, and we want you to know,” one of Fischer's supporters said.
There were two demands, one of which is to give family and community more notice when Fischer's court appearances for the assault and robbery charges are delayed.
The county attorney's office, however, said that might not be possible while Fischer remains in the hospital for his gunshot wounds.
“The doctors are the primary ones. If they don't think he can move to appear, then he's not going to appear," Laszewski said. "What then happens is that's transmitted to the sheriff's office and then to the courts. And then we find out when we show up there."
The second demand the group made is for the family to see the 18-year-old.
“It’s like he's being held in solitary in that hospital," a supporter said. "His father has only been able to visit him for a few minutes, his sister not at all. It's shameful, they just had Christmas without him.”
Laszewski said Freeman was busy and could not meet with them today. Laszewski did say he would bring their concerns to Freeman to be addressed.
“This is a city that's hosting the Super Bowl, and so you don't really want to look bad, you don't want to look like a pig of a city," activist Mel Reeves said. "You don't want to look like a heartless city, a Grinch of a city … you do right already because you didn't let that young lady down there or the dad see the kid over Christmas.”
But as Freeman's spokesperson maintained, a lot of the issues are not theirs upon which to decide.