March 28, 2018 The Skanner Page 9
News
Sacramento Residents Demand Answers in Stephon Clark Killing
ANTONIO R. HARVEY/THE SACRAMENTO OBSERVER
Sacramento Police Dept. Under Fire for Shooting Death of Stephon Clark, an Unarmed Black Man
Hundreds converged on Sacramento’s city hall last Thursday in protest of the police-involved shooting of
Stephon Clark, 22, who was killed in South Sacramento Sunday, March 18 by two officers who mistook a
cell phone he was holding for a gun. Protesters, led by activists with Black Lives Matter Sacramento, left
city hall and proceeded to move onto Northbound I-5, shutting down the busy highway just before the
evening commute.
By Genoa Barrow
Sacramento Observer/
NNPA Member
SACRAMENTO—An-
gry and frustrated res-
idents are demanding
answers after a police-in-
volved shooting left an
unarmed, Black man
dead last week. Stephon
Clark, 22, was fatally shot
in his Meadowview area
backyard Sunday, March
18 after two Sacramento
Police Department (SPD)
officers shot at him more
than 20 times. Local law
enforcement
officers
were in the area after re-
ceiving a 911 call about a
man suspected of break-
ing into vehicles in the
area.
A Sacramento County
Sheriff ’s
Department
helicopter spotted a man
they believed to be that
suspect, described as be-
ing 6’1”, thin, and wear-
ing a black hoodie and
dark pants, in a backyard
and they directed SPD
officers on the ground to
that location.
Helicopter personnel
also communicated to
officers that the suspect
had picked up a “toolbar”
and broke a window to a
residence. Officers who
had been canvassing
other yards, eventually
entered the front yard
of a home on the 7500
block of 29th Street and
observed Clark, along
the side of the residence.
Officers
commanded
Clark to stop and show
his hands. According
to a statement released
by the SPD, the officers
say Clark turned and
advanced towards them
while “holding an object
which was extended in
front of him.” The offi-
cers said they believed
Clark was pointing a gun
at them and, “fearing for
their safety,” they fired
their duty weapons.
Police admit they only
found a cellphone, not a
gun or a “toolbar,” on the
scene.
On Wednesday, March
21 the SPD released video
footage of the interaction
from the body cameras
worn by both officers,
as well as audio from
the initial 911 calls and
dispatch. Chief Daniel
Hahn, the city’s first Af-
rican American police
chief, has vowed to be
transparent in such in-
cidents since he took the
position last year. Sacra-
mento City Council poli-
cy on Police Use of Force
mandates that the SPD
release video and audio
associated with police-in-
volved shootings to the
public within 30 days.
The policy was adopted
after a mentally ill Black
man, Joseph Mann, was
shot and killed by SPD of-
ficers in Del Paso Heights
in 2016. The three-day
turn around in the Clark
shooting is much quick-
er than has happened in
years past.
“SPD acknowledges the
seriousness of this in-
cident and the impact it
has on our community,”
reads one of two state-
ments on the shooting,
released by the SPD last
week.
“We are committed to
providing timely infor-
mation, communicating
openly, and working di-
rectly with our commu-
nity, so that they have a
full understanding of
what occurred,” the state-
ment continues.
The body camera vid-
eos are each about 17
minutes long. While
neither officer has been
identified, one appears
to be White or Hispanic
and the other African
American. In the graphic
video, the officers don’t
appear to identify them-
selves as police officers,
but simply say, “Hey,
show me your hands,
gun” and seconds later
“Show me your hands,
gun, gun gun,” before
one shoots off 10 rounds
and the other, at least 11.
Officers waited five
minutes for backup to
arrive and can be heard
telling Clark, who was
unresponsive, to show
his hands. One officer
tells another to grab
a “non-lethal” from a
police vehicle so they
can “hit him a couple
of times with that” be-
fore approaching him.
When officers did ap-
proach Clark’s body, he
was laying face down on
the ground. They hand-
cuffed him and began
CPR. He was pronounced
dead on the scene by the
Sacramento Fire Depart-
ment.
The use of non-lethal
weapons, such as rifles
that shoot bean bags at
suspects, were part of re-
forms fought for by local
activists after the Mann
incident and the shooting
death of another Black
man, Dazion Flenaugh;
the mandatory use of
body cameras was also
part of the reforms.
“You
authorized
non-lethal
weapons.
Why weren’t non-lethal
weapons used in this in-
stance?” Richard Owen,
co-chair of the Law En-
forcement Accountabil-
ity Directive, asked of
the city council during
a meeting where the Ste-
phon Clark shooting inci-
dent was discussed.
Owen continued: “Did
Mr. Clark really have to
die? It doesn’t seem that
way to the community.”
Owen, a retired school
principal, also ques-
tioned why officers wait-
ed before attempting to
save Clark’s life. While
Owen said he’d hold off
for the video to reveal the
facts, he addressed some
of the most salacious ru-
mors that have been cir-
cling in the community
regarding the shooting.
“If this man was shot
in the back and shot 20
times, that’s excessive
force without question,”
Owen said.
Chief Hahn, who was
at the meeting to read an
official SPD statement,
and answer questions,
said those elements of
the incident are current-
ly under investigation.
Family members are
also asking why the body
cameras were muted for
a period of time.
Black Lives Sacramento
leader Tanya Faison also
spoke out at this week’s
city council meeting.
Read the rest of this story at
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