Stephon Clark (legal name Stephan Alonzo Clark) was shot and killed on the evening of March 18, 2018, by two officers of the Sacramento Police Department in Sacramento, California, United States. The officers were looking for a suspect who was breaking windows in the Meadowview neighborhood, and confronted Clark, an unarmed 22-year-old African-American man whom they found in the yard of his grandmother's house, where he resided. Clark ran from the police in an encounter that was filmed by police video cameras. A Sacramento County Sheriff's Department helicopter was involved in observing an individual on the ground and in directing ground officers to the point at which the shooting took place. Helicopter video footage was released 3 days after the shooting. The officers stated that they shot Clark, firing 20 rounds, believing that he had pointed a gun at them. After the shooting, police reported that he was carrying only a cell phone. According to an independent autopsy funded by Clark's family, Clark was shot eight times including six times in the back. A review funded by Sacramento County says Clark was shot seven times, and was most likely shot as he approached police.
The shooting caused large protests in Sacramento, and Clark's family members have rejected the initial police description of the events leading to Clark's death. The Sacramento Police Department placed the officers on paid administrative leave and opened a use of force investigation. Police have stated they are confident that Clark was the person responsible for breaking windows in the area prior to the encounter.
Video Shooting of Stephon Clark
Stephon Clark
Stephon Clark (born August 10, 1995) a Black American, graduated from Sacramento High School in 2013, where he was on the football team. He was 22 years old at the time he was killed. According to The Los Angeles Times, Clark lived in a "tough neighborhood" characterized by tense relations with the Sacramento Police Department. His older brother, Stevante Clark, told KOVR that he and Stephon had come from "underprivileged, broken homes". Their 16-year-old brother was killed in a shooting in 2006. Stephon had been released from county jail about a month before the shooting and was staying with his grandparents on and off. His brother said, "He was arrested before, but he's been different lately. He really changed his life." Sacramento County court records show that Clark had a history of convictions for robbery, domestic abuse, and a prostitution-related offense. At the time of his death he was on probation for a 2014 robbery conviction. Multiple leaders in the community stated that Clark's criminal record was immaterial to his death.
Maps Shooting of Stephon Clark
Officers
The Sacramento Police Department stated that they would release the names of the officers who shot Clark within 10 days of the event. Sources leaked what they said were the names of the shooters, but the Sacramento Police Department did not confirm the names and said that both officers had received numerous threats.
Shooting
The Sacramento Police Department stated that on Sunday, March 18 at 9:18 p.m., two officers were responding to a call that someone was breaking car windows. In a media release after the shooting, police stated that they had been looking for a suspect hiding in a backyard. They said the suspect was a thin black man, 6 feet 1 inch (185 cm) in height, wearing darkly colored pants and a black hooded sweatshirt. A sheriff's helicopter spotted a man at 9:25 p.m. in a nearby backyard and told officers on the ground that he had shattered a window using a tool bar, run to the front of that house, and then looked in an adjacent car.
Officers on the ground entered the front yard of Clark's grandmother's home, and saw Clark next to the home. Vance Chandler, the Sacramento Police Department spokesman, said that Clark was the same man who had been breaking windows, and was tracked by police in helicopters. Chandler said that when Clark was confronted and ordered to stop and show his hands, Clark fled to the back of the property.
Police body camera footage from both of the officers who shot Clark recorded the incident, though the footage is dark and shaky. In the videos, officers spot Clark in his grandmother's driveway and shout "Hey, show me your hands. Stop. Stop." The video shows that the officers chased Clark into the backyard and an officer yells, "Show me your hands! Gun!" About three seconds elapse and then the officer yells, "Show me your hands! Gun, gun, gun", before shooting Clark.
According to the police, before being shot Clark turned and held an object that he "extended in front of him" while he moved towards the officers. The officers said they believed that Clark was pointing a gun at them. The police stated that the officers feared for their safety, and at 9:26 p.m., fired 20 rounds, hitting Clark multiple times. According to an independent autopsy funded by Clark's family, Clark was shot eight times, including six times in the back. The report found that one of the bullets to strike Clark from the front was likely fired while he was already on the ground. A pathologist retained by the Sacramento County coroner called into question those findings, and said the family's pathologist mistook an exit wound for an entry wound, leaving the impression that police first shot Clark from the side or back. The county's reviewer said that Clark was most likely shot as he approached police, which was consistent with the officer's account.
Body-cam footage shows that after shooting him, the officers continued to yell at him as one shined a flashlight at him and they kept their guns aimed at him. One officer stated in one of the body-cam videos, "He had something in hands, looked like a gun from our perspective." Three minutes after the shooting, a female officer called to him and said "We need to know if you're OK. We need to get you medics, so we can't go over and get you help until we know you don't have a weapon." They waited five minutes after shooting Clark before approaching and then handcuffing him. Clark was found to have a white iPhone, and was unarmed. Clark's girlfriend later said the phone belonged to her.
After more officers arrived, one officer said "Hey, mute", and audio recording from the body camera was turned off.
The Police Department stated on March 19, one day after the shooting, that Clark had been seen with a "tool bar". On the evening of that day, police revised their statement to say that Clark was carrying a cell phone, and not a tool bar, when he was shot. Police added that Clark might have used either a concrete block or an aluminum gutter railing to break a sliding glass door at the house next door to where he was shot, and that they believed Clark had broken windows from at least three vehicles in the area.
Investigation
The Sacramento Police Department began a use-of-force investigation and placed both officers on paid administrative leave. On March 27, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said that his department would provide independent oversight into the investigation, and separately would scrutinize the police department's use-of-force policies and training procedures.
The county coroner's report has not yet been released. The family requested a second, independent autopsy and those results were released March 30, 2018. The pathologist, Dr. Bennet Omalu, said Clark had been shot eight times from the back or side, adding "You could reasonably conclude that he received seven gunshot wounds from his back." On June 2018, a New York Times team pusblished an analysis also based on videos made by two police body cameras and by an overhead, heat-sensing helicopter camera.
Protests
There were numerous public protests in Sacramento after the killing. On March 22, 2018, Black Lives Matter led a march that shut down Interstate 5 and prevented NBA fans from entering a Sacramento Kings game, resulting in delaying the game.
One week after the shooting, the Sacramento Kings and Boston Celtics NBA teams wore shirts with Clark's name and the words "Accountability" and "We are One" during warm-ups and the national anthem.
On March 31, after an independent autopsy had concluded that Clark was shot eight times, mostly in the back, hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Sacramento. The peaceful protest was led by retired NBA player Matt Barnes, who announced that he is starting a scholarship fund for Clark's sons.. Local activist Wanda Cleveland was struck by a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department vehicle at a rally. Video of the incident shows that a number of protesters converged on official vehicles and were ordered over loudspeakers to step away. One sheriff's vehicle hit Cleveland and knocked her down while she was standing in front of the car. According to Cleveland the vehicle was accelerating and "never even stopped" when it hit her. She was hospitalized with bruises on her head and arm and released the next morning. Members of the progressive advocacy group National Lawyers Guild who were present during the protest said the vehicle "accelerated very fast" as it hit Cleveland and then "sped off". According to the sheriff's department, "A collision occurred while the patrol vehicle was traveling at slow speeds." The California Highway Patrol is investigating the matter. At a press conference, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones blamed "paid professional protesters" and "professional instigators that infiltrate the protests for their own purposes" for the incident. Protest organizers denied the allegation and were outraged by his comments. Sociology and political science professor David Meyer said Jones's allegation was not realistic. PolitiFact concluded that Jones did not provide evidence to his claim, and rated his claim as false.
Responses
Elected officials and political activists
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, initially said he would not second-guess decisions made by officers on the ground. After a backlash, he said the videos of Clark's shooting made him feel "really sick" and that the shooting was "wrong" but declined to comment whether the officers should be charged. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi stated that Clark "should be alive today". Reverend Al Sharpton stated that he was alarmed by the story, which he said had not received enough media attention.
On March 26, White House spokesman Raj Shah stated that he was unaware of any comments from President Donald Trump regarding the incident. Two days later, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders stated that Trump is "very supportive of law enforcement" and that the incident was a "local matter" that should be dealt with by the local authorities.
Clark family
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the Clark family, stated that the autopsy finding was inconsistent with the official narrative that Clark was charging toward the police officers when they fired. Clark's family expressed skepticism of the police version of events. Clark's brother, Stevante Clark, said of police statements: "They said he had a gun. Then they said he had a crowbar. Then they said he had a toolbar ... If you lie to me once, I know you'll lie to me again." Clark's aunt Saquoia Durham said that police gave Clark no time to respond to their commands before shooting him. According to Crump the officers did not identify themselves as police when they encountered Clark. The police have stated that the officers who confronted Clark were wearing their uniforms at that time.
Policing experts
University of South Carolina criminology professor Geoffrey Alpert stated that it might be hard for officers to justify their conclusion that Clark was armed, since they had been told he was carrying a toolbar. Peter Moskos, assistant professor of Law and Police Science at John Jay College, said that the officers appeared to think they had been fired upon following the shooting. Alpert, Clark's family, and protesters questioned officers' decisions to mute their microphones. Police Chief Daniel Hahn said he was unable to explain the muting. Cedric Alexander, former police chief in Rochester, New York, and former president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, said that the muting did not appear to violate any policy, but looks bad. He also stated that it is not unusual for police to mute their body cams and that attorneys advise the police to mute conversations to prevent recording any comments that could be used in administrative or criminal proceedings. Many body cams are made with a mute button on them.
See also
- Shooting of Joseph Mann
- Shooting of Michael Brown
- Shooting of Nicholas Flusche
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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