Protesters gather at Capitol to condemn shooting of Stephon Clark
SACRAMENTO — Dozens of activists gathered Friday at the state Capitol in Sacramento to protest the fatal police shooting of Stephon Clark, an unarmed black man.
About 100 protesters — some carrying signs that said “What Weapon?” and “No Justice, No Peace” — gathered outside the Capitol building early Friday afternoon. The rally followed a day of protests in this city that saw the brief closure of Interstate 5 and the blocking of access to a Sacramento Kings basketball game at Golden 1 Center arena.
“We know that District Attorney (Anne Marie) Schubert has a pattern of declining to prosecute killer cops who murder Black people,” the petition said. “She cannot let another killer cop get away with murder, and that we want justice for Zoe,” a reference to Clark’s nickname.
Activists were planning a candlelight vigil Friday evening for Clark, who was shot by police in his backyard last weekend.
The vigil is scheduled for 7 p.m. at 29th Street and Florin Road, near the site of Sunday’s shooting, organizers said. The vigil is meant to remember not only Clark, but others killed by Sacramento police.
The shooting occurred Sunday after a 911 caller reported to police that a man had “busted both my truck windows out, and he’s in people’s backyards and broken a window to a home. As the man climbed a fence and entered another yard, the pilot directed officers to his location.
Police say Clark scaled a tall fence and peered into a vehicle before running into his backyard in the 7500 block of 29th Street, where officers pursued and shot him.
The officers, who said they thought the 22-year-old was pointing a gun at them, fired a total of 20 rounds during the encounter. But no gun was found. The only item authorities found near Clark was a cellphone, the Sacramento Police Department said.
“Show me your hands! Gun, gun, gun!” an officer shouts in one video before he and his partner fire repeatedly at a dark figure. When the gunfire ends, a haze of gray smoke swirls in the beam of their flashlights. “Shots fired!” the officer shouts. “He’s down.”
On Thursday, anger over the shooting drew hundreds of protesters to City Hall, where members of Black Lives Matter and other activists condemned the incident as yet another case of officers shooting an unarmed black person.
Protesters blocked streets and for a while, closed down Interstate 5. The demonstrators also blocked access to the Golden 1 Center, preventing some fans from attending a Kings game at the arena. The protests prompted officials to stop admission to the game, which went on, but with relatively few in the stands.
No arrests were made during the demonstrations, authorities said.
The Police Department’s rapid release of audio and video follows a 2016 vote by the Sacramento City Council ordering police to release all video from an officer-involved shooting, incustody death or complaint to the Office of Public Safety Accountability within 30 days — except in cases where release of the video would hamper or taint an ongoing investigation.
The decision to compel release of the videos followed a series of controversial incidents, including one in July 2016 in which two Sacramento Police Department officers tried to strike a mentally ill homeless man with their cruiser.
Police have not identified the officers involved in Sunday’s shooting, nor have they publicly named the dead man. But in the shooting’s aftermath, relatives and community members have identified him and have criticized the department, saying it was Clark who had the most to fear from officers, not the other way around.
Among those who have condemned the shooting are Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Activists said Sacramento police began talking to black community leaders after the 2016 incident involving the mentally ill man. But they say police have done little to address what is perceived as a deep gulf between the officers assigned to minority neighborhoods and those who live there.
“The reality is there is an underlying culture in the Police Department, a fear of serving in some communities,” said activist Derrell Roberts, whose Sacramento nonprofit operates after-school and teen programs. “We have to be unafraid to address this cultural bias.”