California to decide if will charge police in death of unarmed black man
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California’s attorney general on Tuesday will announce results of a criminal investigation into two Sacramento policemen who shot and killed an unarmed black man in his grandmother’s backyard last year, days after the county prosecutor said she would not press charges.
The decision to bring no charges against the two officers in the death of Stephon Clark, 22, angered community activists and quickly touched off protests outside police headquarters in Sacramento, the California state capital.
On Monday night, a third night of protests led to the arrest of more than 80 people, including a reporter for the Sacramento Bee, the newspaper said.
Clark was shot dead on March 18, 2018, in the backyard of his grandmother’s home by police responding to reports that someone was breaking car windows on the street.
The incident, like other fatal police shootings of young black men in recent years, sparked two weeks of demonstrations in the streets of Sacramento at the time and added fuel to a national debate on police use of deadly force.
Saturday’s decision by Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert not to prosecute the officers drew criticism from local and national civil rights leaders.
On Tuesday, the NAACP called on California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to prosecute the officers.
“The decision to view the shooting of an unarmed man 20 times, with half of those shots in the back as a legal action is inhumane and sickening,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson. “The decision by the D.A.’s office to refuse to value the lives of Black people is a sham and shame on Sacramento and our nation.”
During a 90-minute news conference to announce her decision, Schubert told reporters that the officers, Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet, opened fire after Clark faced them in a shooting stance and they saw a flash of light.
Schubert played body-camera footage of the confrontation that appeared to show the flash, which she said the officers took for a gunshot. She said it was still not clear what caused the flash. Clark was holding a cell phone at the time of his death.
Schubert said investigators had also determined that it was Clark who had been smashing car windows while under the influence of Xanax, alcohol and marijuana. Text messages showed he was possibly suicidal that night following a domestic violence incident involving the mother of one of his children.
“I feel like, shame on the DA, shame on her. I know she will not sleep well at night, she can’t,” Clark’s mother, Sequette, told reporters outside her home, according to the Sacramento Bee newspaper.
On Monday, protesters met at a market in an upscale neighborhood to march, saying civic leaders and wealthy people who could do something about public policy lived in the area.
Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento; Editing by Frank McGurty and Bill Berkrot
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