On March 18, 2018, two police officers in Sacramento, California, fired 20 gunshots—all of which were aimed at one man.
Stephon Clark is yet another unarmed black man who was murdered by the people who were supposed to serve and protect him. The officers were responding to a routine vandalism call, but ended up murdering this young man in the backyard of his grandmother’s home. As always, the police officers claimed that Mr. Clark was armed and posed some sort of threat to them, but it was later discovered that the only item that this young man had on him was his cell phone. The case is being investigated, and questions of excessive force are being raised. To add to suspicion, the officers muted their body cameras following the shooting, and can be seen on camera talking to one another while their victim lay lifeless on the ground.
In recent days, Stephon Clark’s family ordered an independent autopsy that found that Clark was shot eight times, primarily into his back, which begs the question of whether or not he was a threat to police when they took his life. Clark was also shot in the leg. Dr. Omalu, the private medical examiner hired by the family, hypothesized that the shot that hit him in the leg was fired as he was already falling to the ground because of the other gunshots. Dr. Omalu also explained that Clark suffered multiple wounds that could have been fatal, along with an arm that was broken into “tiny bits”. Dr. Omalu was not able to determine whether or not Stephon Clark could have been saved if he had gotten medical attention more quickly, but he did say that “every minute you wait, decreases probability of survival”.
In the days following this grizzly murder, members of the Sacramento community have taken to the streets, demanding that the two officers involved be fired. They are not being silent. These people are outraged, as they should be. Members of this community are coming together and demanding that justice be served for Stephon Clark, and I stand with them. I stand with them in their outrage, and I stand with them in their determination to make a change, and hold these officers accountable.
This murder is yet another reason that we say Black Lives Matter. We say this so loudly and so often because it seems like people are constantly looking for reasons to kill us. It feels like we have to prove that we are worthy to live, and it gets exhausting. With that being said, we can’t give up and we can’t lose hope, because we have to fight for the people whose lives were cut short. We have to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. As I write this, tears are welling up in my eyes, because my heart has been aching for my people. I’m tired of hashtagging new names. My heart is so heavy, but the fire in me is still burning strong. I know that change doesn’t happen overnight, but I will do my part to put an end to this violence and put an end to the senseless murder of black people. I will keep fighting for Alton Sterling, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, and the countless others who were wrongfully murdered at the hands of the police, and I challenge you to do the same.
Black Lives Matter.