Stephon Clark’s Family Urges Criminal Charges Against Police Who Shot Him
March 27, 2018 by admin
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A tearful Sequita Thompson pleads for police officers who killed her unarmed grandson, Stephon Clark, to face criminal charges. Thompson was accompanied at a news conference by Clark’s uncle, Kurtis Gordon (left) and attorney Ben Crump (right).
Rich Pedroncelli/AP
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A tearful Sequita Thompson pleads for police officers who killed her unarmed grandson, Stephon Clark, to face criminal charges. Thompson was accompanied at a news conference by Clark’s uncle, Kurtis Gordon (left) and attorney Ben Crump (right).
Rich Pedroncelli/AP
The family of Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old unarmed black man fatally shot by police in his grandparents’ back yard, on Monday urged the Sacramento, Calif., district attorney’s office to bring criminal charges against the two officers who killed him.
In a press conference held at City Hall, Clark’s grandmother, Sequita Thompson, wailed in mourning over the violent and unfathomably sudden death of her grandson, captured on police body cameras and helicopter video overhead.
Thompson demanded an explanation for why officers fired about 20 shots at Clark, who at the time was holding a borrowed cell phone in his hand. Police said at the time they believed it was a gun.
“They didn’t have to kill him like that. They didn’t have to shoot him that many times,” she sobbed, as Clark’s uncle, Kurtis Gordon, wiped tears from her face.
“Why didn’t you shoot him in the arm? Shoot him in the leg? Send the dogs? Send the taser? Why?” she asked.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump is representing the family in the case, and cradled Thompson as she wept on his shoulder.
In recent years, Crump has handled several high-profile officer-involved shooting cases, including Tamir Rice and Michael Brown.
Stephon Clark family attorney Ben Crump:
Florida shooting suspect “was not shot once. But a young black man holding a cellphone is shot 20 times. Young man who was bombing homes in Austin … He wasn’t shot once. But an unarmed black man holding a cellphone is shot 20 times.” pic.twitter.com/IuHVMAJxkj
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 26, 2018
Crump drew comparisons between the Sacramento police officers’ response when dealing with Clark, a black suspect, and that of law enforcement in other cities pursuing white suspects.
The Florida high school shooter who allegedly killed 17 people last month before he was apprehended, “was not shot once. But a young black man holding a cellphone is shot 20 times,” he said. “Young man who was bombing homes in Austin, [Texas], the police followed him for hours. He wasn’t shot once. But an unarmed black man holding a cellphone is shot 20 times.”
“We will stand up for Stephon, we will speak up for Stephon … until we get justice,” he added.
Alice Huffman and Betty Williams of the NAACP were among nearly a dozen African American community leaders standing with Clark’s family Monday.
After the press conference, Huffman told The Sacramento Bee efforts by the NAACP to reach Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert had gone unanswered but that the organization is in talks with the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division about investigating the shooting at the federal level.
Shelly Orio, a spokeswoman with the district attorney’s office told NPR that members of Schubert’s office are in the process of setting up a meeting with Williams sometime in the near future.
“The meeting being scheduled with the NAACP is at their request, so we are not sure what they would like to discuss,” Orio said in an email. She also added, “The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office reviews all officer-involved shootings that occur in the county which result in injury or death.”
Activists and protesters have been demonstrating in the days since footage of the killing was released last week. A day after the videos went viral Black Lives Matter led a march that spilled onto Interstate 5, shutting down traffic in both directions during rush hour.
As NPR reported, over the weekend protesters merged with the March for Our Lives event against gun violence on school campuses. That drew the attention of Reverend Al Sharpton, who said on MSNBC that he would attend Thursday’s funeral for Clark.
On Sunday night basketball players from the Sacramento Kings and Boston Celtics wore black t-shirts with Clark’s name on the back during a pregame warm up.
Before collapsing into Crump’s embrace Monday, Thompson stared up toward the ceiling and pleaded for justice.
“I want justice for my baby. I want justice for Stephon Clark,” she cried.
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Linda Brown, central figure in school segregation case, dies
March 27, 2018 by admin
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – As a girl in Kansas, Linda Brown’s father tried to enroll her in an all-white school in Topeka. He and several black families were turned away, sparking the Brown v. Board of Education case that challenged segregation in public schools.
A 1954 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court followed, striking down racial segregation in schools and cementing Linda Brown’s place in history as a central figure in the landmark case.
Funeral officials in Topeka said Brown died Sunday at age 75. A cause of death was not released. Arrangements were pending at Peaceful Rest Funeral Chapel.
Her sister, Cheryl Brown Henderson, founding president of The Brown Foundation, confirmed the death to The Topeka Capital-Journal. She declined comment from the family.
Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel at NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., said in a statement that Linda Brown is one of a band of heroic young people who, along with her family, courageously fought to end the ultimate symbol of white supremacy – racial segregation in public schools.
“She stands as an example of how ordinary schoolchildren took center stage in transforming this country. It was not easy for her or her family, but her sacrifice broke barriers and changed the meaning of equality in this country,” Ifill said in a statement.
The NAACP’s legal arm brought the lawsuit to challenge segregation in public schools before the Supreme Court, and Brown’s father, Oliver Brown, became lead plaintiff.
Several black families in Topeka were turned down when they tried to enroll their children in white schools near their homes. The lawsuit was joined with cases from Delaware, South Carolina, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that separating black and white children was unconstitutional because it denied black children the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law. “In the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place,” Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote. “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”
The Brown decision overturned the court’s Plessy v. Ferguson decision, which on May 18, 1896, established a “separate but equal” doctrine for blacks in public facilities.
“Sixty-four years ago, a young girl from Topeka, Kansas sparked a case that ended segregation in public schools in America,” Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer said in a statement. “Linda Brown’s life reminds us that by standing up for our principles and serving our communities we can truly change the world. Linda’s legacy is a crucial part of the American story and continues to inspire the millions who have realized the American dream because of her.”
Brown v. Board was a historic marker in the civil rights movement, likely the most high-profile case brought by Thurgood Marshall and the lawyers of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in their decade-plus campaign to chip away at the doctrine of “separate but equal.”
“Her legacy is not only here but nationwide,” Kansas Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis said.
Oliver Brown, for whom the case was named, became a minister at a church in Springfield, Missouri. He died of a heart attack in 1961. Linda Brown and her sister founded in 1988 the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research.
The foundation says on its webpage that it was established as a living tribute to the attorneys, community organizers and plaintiffs in the landmark Supreme Court decision. Its mission is to build upon their work and keep the ideals of the decision relevant for future generations.
“We are to be grateful for the family that stood up for what is right,” said Democratic state Rep. Annie Kuether of Topeka. “That made a difference to the rest of the world.”
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