Xavier Becerra, California Attorney General, Won’t Charge Officers in Stephon Clark Shooting

[The New York Times conducted a comprehensive analysis of police video footage.]

Since the shooting, community members and activists have demanded police accountability for Mr. Clark’s death, calling attention to discriminatory policing in black neighborhoods and excessive use of force by police officers. Protests in Sacramento have shut down busy streets and disrupted sporting events.

On Tuesday evening, a Sacramento City Council meeting was interrupted when a man climbed onto a table inside the chambers as people yelled out Mr. Clark’s name. Video also showed people banging on the glass outside chanting Mr. Clark’s name. Others, standing at a lecturn inside, told the Council they wanted the police officers who shot Mr. Clark fired.

On the night before Mr. Becerra’s announcement, a veteran Sacramento Bee reporter was among more than 80 people arrested during a protest over the decision by the district attorney, Anne Marie Schubert. On Saturday, she had said that the officers had probable cause to stop and detain Mr. Clark and that police officers are legally justified in using deadly force if they honestly and reasonably believe they are in danger of death or injury.

That announcement led to a number of protests, and on Monday night, more than 100 demonstrators gathered and blocked traffic on Folsom Boulevard in East Sacramento, the city’s Police Department said in a statement on Tuesday. The police said they used loudspeakers to order the demonstrators to disperse more than 10 times and eventually arrested and cited 84 people.

The Sacramento Bee reporter covering the protest, Dale Kasler, 60, was detained and released, the police said.

He had been live-streaming the demonstration on Facebook when he was handcuffed, The Bee reported. Other reporters shouted that Mr. Kasler was a journalist on assignment, but he was still led away, The Bee said.

Mr. Kasler, who is in his 23rd year as a Bee reporter, was released just after 11 p.m. after being held in custody for about an hour, The Bee said. A photographer for the newspaper, Hector Amezcua, was pushed to the ground by an officer’s baton and his equipment was damaged, the newspaper said.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/us/sacramento-stephon-clark-protests.html?partner=rss&emc=rss