Protests Shut Down Sacramento Kings Game, Freeways Over Stephon Clark’s Death
03/23/2018 12:49 am ET
Protests Shut Down Sacramento Kings Game, Freeways Over Stephon Clark’s Death
Black Lives Matter activists linked arms and blocked the Golden 1 Center while chanting: “Stephon Clark!”
Outraged over the latest police shooting of an unarmed black man, hundreds of protesters flooded the streets of Sacramento, California, on Thursday, even forcing an events center into lockdown minutes before an NBA game.
The daylong demonstration was held in response to Sacramento police officers killing 22-year-old Stephon Clark in his grandparents’ backyard on Sunday night while responding to reports of car break-ins. The Sacramento Police Department said officers believed Clark had advanced toward them while holding a gun, though police only found a cellphone on him after an exhaustive search.
Demonstrators on Thursday first stormed the buildings of Sacramento City Hall before moving out to the streets and marching down Interstate 5, the Sacramento Bee reported . They also gathered in front of the Golden 1 Center and, with linked arms, blocked ticket holders from entering the arena for a game between the Sacramento Kings and the Atlanta Hawks.
Protesters carried signs that demanded justice and criticized police officers for shootings of unarmed people, especially black men .
Some in the crowd carried signs that read, “Stop killing us” and “Black lives matter,” along with other messages demanding justice.
At City Hall, protesters chanted, “It’s a phone, not a gun,” according to Ezra David Romero of Sacramento’s Capital Public Radio News.
Protesters also chanted, “Say his name. Stephon Clark!”
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NOTE: The two videos are different at certain points. Please see both of them.
My Take: This is worthy of much discussion from every point of view.
Are police community "Angels"?
Ponder this:
As you stare into the videos above. As you watch through the lens of the helicopter camera. Become aware of what has brought these men and women to the scene of this incident. These officers come onto a shift . They sat on 'outposts' spread throughout our towns and cities with full authority to act on the laws of their 'kingdoms.' They are the only ones tasked to attend the scenes of lawbreaking. It is their civic duty.
Now, visualize the call comes in: A dangerous activity is occurring in one of the sectors. The "angels" of that area have no choice, s/he has to check it out. Is it the Police forces fault if the citizenry is unaware, or uneducated in the proper behavior when confronted by "Angels wielding a flaming sword" and the authority and power of the State?
It is an impossible situation to instruct a citizen in the proper way to behave with "Angels" during these real-time scenes.
We, the citizenry, must understand that Agents of the State are at best neutral. In service to the state, they have serious potential to be judge, jury, and executioner! Thus, they are neither friend or foe!
Whatever....but the fact of the matter is that we need them, to the best of their ability, to protect us from punks, thugs, and all other kinds of "devils" .
In this case, it was dark out, he ran instead of stopping, dropping the phone, and putting his hands up. According to the news accounts he advanced toward the officers while holding something in front of him. Hard to tell what it was in the dark. Once again, "angelic" black man acted stupidly and was shot.
In almost all of these incidents there is either the element of flight or resisting arrest. We seem to have an element in our society that dosen't understand that there is no option but to follow police instructions. As for the riot/"protest" - how many laws did they violate? and the police will not be arresting any of them?
Are we so tone-deaf to each other that you can not see my tone in this comment is assenting to the officers state of mind? This young man put himself in a life and death situation, I'll agree. The only question I have for the police, and it may go to police policy, is why continue firing when the "suspect" is fallen prostrate on the ground?
Watch the videos above? Please. So many angles: so many perspectives.
mostly an excuse to act up
Please elaborate, Charger.
some just want a reason to cause problems, Look at me, we blocked a highway and disrupted a basketball game.
I can't think of much better way to put it (and this site is still jumpy and hard to type on)
I guess they don't have much else to do
Ah! While I understand the protests going forward (twenty shots fired into and around a downed man after the first 'hit' that felled him and he holding up cellphone), and the process of protest being to create the largest footprint possible with the most eyeballs on the subject, it becomes a lot disturbing that they impacted the sports venue to such a large degree. On the otherhand, I do not know of reports of rioting. That's a positive!
"Outraged over the latest police shooting of an unarmed black man, hundreds of protesters flooded the streets of Sacramento, California, on Thursday, even forcing an events center into lockdown minutes before an NBA game."
Just because there may have been an injustice, doesn't give the few the rights to block others from their rights.
I wasn't aware that the NBA was involved in the shooting...
Instead, it sounds like rioters inflicting their violent message on others.
Me either.
Someone forgot to tell them to go to the Police Station I guess.
I can see both sides of this situation. For example, why did the young man turn and run out of sight of the Police, and why did it take both officers going "automatic" to bring this one man down even after he was 'grounded.'
What does that have to do with keeping people from seeing a sporting event they paid to see? Are these protestors offering to refund their ticket price? If I paid two hundred bucks to see a game and some knucklehead was tying to block my entry I'd say he deserves a kick in the rump and mace in the face.
I hear you, Dean. I hear you.
And some jail time.
Because watching a fricking sport is so much more important than killing unarmed black kids.
I guess when something keeps happening over and over and nothing changes, civil disobedience is the next step.
He wasn't innocent nor was he a "kid". He appeared to be armed and his actions warranted his be being shot.
Greg, what that young man did was a great deal wrong. It likely warranted his arrest. It is not clear at all that his actions at the time of the attempted arrest "warranted" him being killed. You can not jump to such a conclusion based on the helicopter camera footage and body cams. The Police were using the frame of the house for cover, they were not exposed.
While I agree that Police will persist, and they should, to get to the bottom/end of a dangerous situation, it is not at all clear that they could not have waited him out a bit.
A/noon...Just wondering if these same people would chuck a demo for Justine Damond in Minnesota????
People need to observe and understand Police Helicopter cops, good heavens, any helicopter equipped with night vision can see your body as long as you are out in the open—even in the dark! You are not hid even when standing still!
CAUTION: This police video of a 2007 San Diego, CA car chase, ends in a man killing himself: (The helicopter thermographic cameras tells the story to the officers arriving on the scene.)
Anyone here nearly shot, shot at, or actually shot by police officers? I was nearly shot by two separate police officers on two separate occasion in this life!
What is seriously interesting is neither incident where I could have been shot had anything to do with me being arrested or going to jail! It was just a STOP. if I had been shot, . . . how weird, stupid, and deadly is that?!
I have not and can't even imagine that happening. I know things can happen in an instant and change your life forever though. I know things can happen to anybody at any time though. Glad you didn't get shot.
Me too, Lib50. Me too! Both officers drew down on me. Looking back over the years, I can coolly see where both officers would have thought they had the 'right' to shoot (me). Though, I had done nothing wrong and I am grateful they were men of quality, I deviated from their instructions in "sufficient measure."
The Kings Will Wear ‘Accountability’ Shirts In The Wake Of Stephon Clark’s Death
Kings And Celtics
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We Are One!
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, of Trayvon Martin national fame, will be representing the Clark family in this Sacramento shooting.