http://themilitant.com/2018/8214/821404.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 82/No. 14 April 9, 2018
(front page)
Hundreds protest Sacramento cop killing of Stephon Clark
AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli
Action in Sacramento, California, March 22 protests police killing of
22-year-old Stephon Clark. Cops claim they mistook his cellphone for a
gun. More protests have been called.
BY BETSEY STONE
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Hundreds of people have taken to the streets here
to protest the police killing of 22-year-old Stephon Clark March 18.
Cops fired more than 20 bullets at Clark, who was unarmed, standing in
the backyard of his grandmother’s home where he lived. The cops claim
they heard reports someone was breaking into cars and mistook the
cellphone Clark was holding for a gun.
“As soon as they did the command to put his hands up, they yelled ‘gun’
and shot,” Clark’s grandmother, Sequita Thompson, said after viewing
police video of the shooting, as have thousands since the cops released
it. From the first glimpse of Clark on the patio to the first gunshot
takes just six seconds.
For five minutes the cops did nothing to render first aid to Clark, who
is African-American, as he lay motionless on the ground. They were
waiting for backup, expressing concern about the number of neighbors
coming out of their homes and hearing the shots. Both the shooting and
the cops’ comments are caught on their body cameras and a video shot
from a police helicopter.
On March 26, Thompson and other members of Clark’s family joined civil
rights lawyer Benjamin Crump and Black community leaders in a press
conference. They demanded criminal charges be brought against the two
cops, Jared Robinet, who is Caucasian, and Terrence Mercadal, who is Black.
“I want justice for my baby,” Thompson said. “Please give us justice.”
Crump has represented the families of earlier victims of vigilante and
cop killings, including Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. At the press
conference he called the killing an “execution.” Representatives of the
California and Sacramento NAACP also spoke, vowing to keep pressure on
the district attorney to bring charges.
Clark left behind two young sons, Cairo and Aiden, as well as his
fiancé, Salena Manni.
Protests against the killing made national news when hundreds of
demonstrators chanting Clark’s name blocked fans from entering a game by
the Sacramento Kings basketball team.
At the Kings’ next game, players from both the Boston Celtics and the
Kings wore black warm-up T-shirts with Stephon Clark’s name. The teams
collaborated on a video showcasing players protesting the killing,
saying, “We will not shut up and dribble.”
While in Sacramento to join in solidarity with those calling for the
arrest and prosecution of the cops, members of the Socialist Workers
Party spoke with people in the area where Clark lived.
Sameerah Muhammad, a home care worker, told us she was appalled at the
number of bullets fired. Her mother, Kareemah Muhammad, said, “I don’t
trust the cops. They get away with murder. If we did what they did, we’d
get life in prison.”
More protests are scheduled throughout the week. Clark’s funeral is set
for March 29.
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home