Why Stephon Clark’s Life Matters…
Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announced on Saturday, March 2, that she would not press charges against the two police officers for the death of Stephon Clark that happened in March of last year. Later in the week, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra agreed with her decision by announcing that he will not be pressing charges against the two officers who killed Stephon Clark. Both attorneys cited the Supreme Court ruling of Tennessee vs. Garner as their main reason for deciding to not press charges.
In ruling of Tennessee vs. Garner, the Supreme Court ruled that under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, a police officer can use deadly force against a fleeing suspect only if the officer firmly believes that the suspect poses as a threat to the officer and to others. While District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert conducted a thorough investigation for over a year as to why the police officers shot Stephon Clark, some critics may say that Stephon Clark deserved to be shot because he did pose a threat to others based on his past criminal history and mental health standing at the time of the shooting.
Police officers do have a right to protect themselves, but taking a Black man’s life, especially when he was being reported on for vandalizing windows in his neighborhood is too far. Here’s why:
- On June 17, 2015, a man by the name of Dylann Storm Roof murdered nine people in Charleston, South Carolina while they were worshipping in a church. The police did not shot him and captured him alive. The jury tried him and found him guilty on all felony charges.
- Stephon Clark’s criminal history was irrelevant on the night that he was being pursued by police. The police did not know the identity of the suspect at the time, but thought he might be a danger based on his description that he was vandalizing windows with a crowbar and running away from police because he feared for his life.
- Stephon Clark was holding a phone at the time of the crime and when they saw him and shot him.
The two police officers who killed Stephon Clark in his grandmother’s backyard, said that they feared for their life when they cornered him. Why? Because the police officers suspected that he was carrying a gun and shot him 20 times, with 7 to 8 bullets hitting him directly. Or at least that is what they said in their testimony. But let’s be real, the police officers killed him because he was Black.
However, Stephon Clark did not have a gun. He had a cell phone and was probably waving his cell phone with a flashlight on, right before the police shot him.
The Sacramento Police Department did have a responsibility to protect Stephon Clark. The Sacramento Police Department failed Stephon Clark in these regards: the police officers failed to capture him without bodily harm. The police officers failed to give him the “Miranda warning” in case he got arrested. The police officers are responsible for bringing in a suspect and so that the suspect can be tried before a jury in court which is within his rights. Stephon Clark had a right to life.
There was a total of 20 shots. One private autopsy done by the family showed that he was shot 8 times. Whereas the Sacramento Coroner showed that seven deadly shots ultimately ended his life.
I firmly believe that suspects are innocent until proven guilty of a crime. In this case, his life mattered because his crime which was vandalizing property, being intoxicated with illegal substances, and violating his probation, does not in any capacity issue a death warrant. It issued a trial, a longer probation sentence, potential jail time or community service if he were living today.
Should Stephon Clark had died? No.
But here’s a more valid reason why Stephon Clark should be living today: Stephon Clark was a son, brother, cousin, a fiancée, and a father.
But people who did not know him, such as Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra would like to paint him as a criminal.
The criminalization of Black men is a public health issue and should be treated as such. Black men have a higher statistic rate of being born into poverty and of being exposed to criminal activity and sent to prison right out of high school.
That seems to be the case for Stephon Clark.
I do not know Stephon Clark because I never met him, but I do firmly believe we need to do and be better than what we are right now: people participating in a racially structured society meant for white men and enforced by police departments that have a strong history of killing and wrongly convicting Black men.
But to the Sacramento Police Department, he is just another criminal, another statistic.
His life did matter to those that cared about him and wanted him to reach his full potential. To me, he was someone that did matter and deserved to life his life to the fullest state of happiness possible.
Rest in Power. #Stephon Clark.
