Sharpton: Clark’s death ‘woke up the nation’

Activist says US must confront police violence

SACRAMENTO – Activist Al Sharpton, addressing the funeral for an unarmed black man killed by police, derided the White House on Thursday for dismissing the killing as a “local matter” and said Stephon Clark’s death would force the nation to confront police violence.

Sharpton gave the eulogy for Clark, 22, to the overflowing Bayside of South Sacramento Church as he held tightly to Stephon’s distraught brother, Stevante, who frequently grabbed the microphone.

The funeral came after 10 days of protests and community anger over the killing of Clark, who was was shot March 18 by two police officers responding to a report of someone breaking car windows. The officers said they thought Clark, who had just entered his grandparents’ backyard, was holding a gun, but he was found with only a cellphone.

In his brief remarks, Sharpton noted that White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, when asked Wednesday why President Donald Trump had not addressed the shooting, called Clark’s killing a “local matter.”

“This is not a local matter,” Sharpton shouted. “They have been killing young black men all over the country, and we are here to say that we are going to stand with Stephon Clark and his family.”

Sharpton told mourners that Clark “woke up the nation.”

“We are going to make Donald Trump and the whole world deal with the issue of police conduct,” he said.

Cecile Thompson, whose four children were with her outside the church, said Clark’s killing was especially painful.

“No mother should have to go through this and lose their children this type of way,” Thompson said. “This is horrific, this is violence, and all mothers need to get up and stand for peace and love because our children should not be dying like this.”

Some mourners at Wednesday’s wake called for police to face criminal charges.