Stephon Clark’s brother interrupts Sacramento City Council meeting

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The brother of Stephon Clark, who was killed earlier this month by police, interrupted a forum for the community to discuss the shooting that has rocked Sacramento for the last week. CBS Sacramento reports that Stevonte Clark marched into the Sacramento City Council chambers Tuesday about 15 minutes into the forum, chanting his brother’s name.

Stevonte promptly took a seat on the dais directly in front of Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

He then began encouraging others in the chamber to join him in chanting “Stephon Clark. Stephon Clark” and implored them to say it louder and louder.

Several people joined Stevonte at the front of the room. 

You can watch Stevonte in the video below (viewer discretion is advised):

The council had moved most of its regularly scheduled meeting to an earlier time to free up the evening for the community discussion about Stephon Clark’s death.

The forum was supposed to run well into the night but instead ended abruptly when Steinberg stopped it just before 8:30 p.m. amid concerns over safety, CBS Sacramento says.

Meanwhile, a reporter for the station tweeted that Sacramento police in riot gear gathered outside City Hall to keep tabs on the crowd:

Some of the protesters split off from City Hall and marched down to the Golden 1 Center, where video showed them interfering with the metal detectors and preventing fans from entering the stadium ahead of the Sacramento Kings game against the Dallas Mavericks. The Kings continued with the game as scheduled, with many fans left outside of the match-up of two of the worst teams in the Western Conference.

The game went on, but with only about 4,000 people in the stands.  Fans who were left outside will be issued a refund. 

It was the second time a Kings game was the site of protests over Clark’s death.

The California attorney general’s office on Tuesday joined the investigation of the shooting, a move the police chief said he hopes will bring “faith and transparency” to the case .

City officials and community leaders called for calm as they announced the attorney general’s involvement while Sacramento prepares for events memorializing Clark, where large crowds are expected.

“Due to the nature of this investigation, the extremely high emotions, anger and hurt in our city, I felt it was the best interest of our entire community, including the members of our police department, to ask the attorney general to be an independent part of this investigation,” Police Chief Daniel Hahn said. 

Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office will provide oversight of the investigation and conduct a review of the police department’s policies and use-of-force training.

But Clark’s family remains skeptical, said his uncle, Curtis Gordon.

“We’ll see what happens,” Gordon said. “It’s all talk at this point … Show me.”

The decision of whether to bring criminal charges against the officers involved remains with District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, although Becerra said his office could also bring charges. 

Stephon Clark was shot and killed by Sacramento Police officers in his grandmother’s backyard on March 18. Helicopter video and body camera video from the scene of the shooting showed officers pursuing Clark, then opening fire. Before firing shots, one of the officers immediately yelled “gun!” and opened fire five seconds later. They fired an estimated 20 rounds at Clark.

Sacramento Police initially said that “gun” that the officers in the video reported seeing was a “toolbar” but no gun or “toolbar” was found at the scene, just Clark’s cellphone.

Ahead of the City Council meeting, protesters gathered outside to chant and lend their support by displaying signs, some which read #Justice4Stephon.

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California Faces Pushback From Towns on Sanctuary State Law

SANTA ANA, Calif.—Orange County officials on Tuesday voted to condemn parts of California’s approach to immigration, aligning themselves with the Trump administration as the state increasingly stakes out an oppositional role.

At a packed public hearing, the county’s board of supervisors—all Republicans—also voted to support a federal lawsuit against California’s so-called sanctuary state law, which strictly limits when and how local authorities can cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

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