The Killing of Stephon Clark
On the night of March 18, 2018, a 22-year-old man named Stephon Clark was shot and killed. It took place in the Meadow area Sacramento, California. Police officers Terrence Mercadal and his partner Jared Robinet shot Stephon. The two were police officers of the Sacramento police department. Clark was shot while holding a mobile phone in his hand in the backyard of his grandmother’s house.
Body Cams Reveal Concerted Effort To Use Deadly Force
The whole incident was recorded on police body cameras. There was helicopter that belonged to the sheriff department of Sacramento County. The helicopter observed Stephon on the ground. It directed police officers to the point at which the shooting occurred. The officers present at the shooting scene stated that they fired 20 rounds in total. Clark pointed a gun towards them, they said.
Stephon Only Had Cell Phone
When they got to where he was, they only found a cell phone on his body. An autopsy on his body, revealed that Stephon sustained seven gun shot wounds. A pathologist, hired by Clark’s family reported a different result. Stephon received eight gun shot wounds, with six bullets being in his back.
The Shooting Sparked Massive Protests
This shooting incident caused massive protests in Sacramento. The Clark family rejected the initial explanation by the police of events. The police officers received compulsory leave, paid, like a vacation. The Sacramento Police department said the leave was to enhance the investigation. The police were sure that Stephon was responsible for breaking windows in the area. It seems that to arrest someone for breaking windows requires deadly force.
Shot In The Back, No Charges Brought Against Officers
On March 2, 2019, Sacramento DA announced no charges against the officers involved. Stephon Clarke would have no justice. The official statement claimed legal justification for the cops. While there did not seem to be any evidence that would compel shooting. There was a great deal of supposition in the case.
The Police Claim Stephon Was an Imminent Threat.
The court released a statement of convictions for Stephon. They included robberies, domestic abuse, and prostitution-related offenses. A toxicology report released by the police, found traces of illegal substances. These included cannabis, cocaine, and codeine. Trace findings usually show older ingestion, a day or more.
Police body cam that showed after the police shot Clark, they continued to yell at him. One of them shined a flashlight at him, and they kept their guns aimed at him.
Official Statements Are a Lie
One day after the shooting, the police said that Clark had been seen with a crowbar. The department revised their statement the same day, saying that Clark was only caring a cell phone. That it was not a crowbar when he police shot him dead. The department also added that Clark might have been using a concrete block or a piece of aluminum gutter rail to break a sliding glass door next door to where he was shot. They also believed that Clark had broken several windows from the last three reported cases in the area.
The Evidence is Lacking
These accounts are unsubstantiated and with most are completely made up to take away from the fact that police shot Stephon in the back. There was no crowbar in the vicinity, nor a concrete block, as were there no evidence of Stephon being anywhere near the scene of the other incidences.
