Autopsy disputing police account of shooting sparks anger
SACRAMENTO (AP) — Calls for justice and charges against two police officers who fatally shot an unarmed black man are not abating here in California’s capital city after an autopsy showed Stephon Clark was shot in the back, in contrast to the department’s statement that he was approaching officers when he was killed.
“His back was turned — he didn’t get a chance,” said Latarria McCain, who joined several hundred people protesting downtown on Friday, a larger crowd than those at three previous protests.
Sacramento native and former National Basketball Association player Matt Barnes has organized another rally for Saturday afternoon, hours before a Sacramento Kings-Golden State Warriors game would bring thousands of fans to the downtown arena that protesters have twice blocked.
Several Kings players joined black community activists’ calls for racial justice at a Friday night community meeting, nearly two weeks after Clark’s March 18 death.
“I want to make sure these mistakes that keep happening have consequences,” player Garrett Temple said.
Earlier, famed pathologist Bennet Omalu announced that Clark was hit by eight bullets — six in the back, one in the neck and one in the thigh — and took three to 10 minutes to die. Police waited about five minutes before rendering medical aid.
“The proposition that has been presented, that he was assailing the officers, meaning he was facing the officers, is inconsistent with the prevailing forensic evidence,” Omalu said at a news conference with family attorney Benjamin Crump.
Omalu said it was not clear if Clark would have survived had he gotten immediate medical attention.