The brother of an unarmed black man fatally shot last year by two Sacramento police officers called on the state attorney general's office to prosecute the cops now that local authorities declined to pursue a case.
Stevante Clark also criticized the Sacramento district attorney for releasing personal information that seemingly blamed his 22-year-old brother Stephon Clark for getting killed during the encounter in his grandparents' yard in March 2018.
"Today and everyday, we demand justice for Stephon. We imagine a world where justice is reality for our communities," said Clark during a press conference with Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network. 'We must, as a community, as a people, act vigilantly to create it ourselves because those who are sworn to protect us have failed."
On Saturday, Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert concluded that officers Terrance Mercadal and Jared Robinet should not face criminal charges for shooting Stephon Clark multiple times when he moved toward them after a chase. The officers said they believed that Clark was armed, but he was actually holding a cellphone.
A separate review from Attorney General Xavier Becerra is expected later this month.
Schubert also revealed several other details about Stephon Clark's actions before the shooting. Evidence allegedly shows that he was the suspect who had broken several windows, which prompted the officers' pursuit of him in the first place, Schubert said.
She also revealed hat he was facing a possible domestic violence charge for an incident with the mother of his two children prior to the shooting and had researched suicide online, including one that described a tranquilizer that was detected in his body during the autopsy.
"We should be looking at these officers. Were there drugs in their system? Let's look at their phone records. See what they were searching on the internet," said Stevante Clark. "It's unfair the way the district attorney assassinated my brother's character. Defamation. Slander. Unacceptable."
Demonstrators gathered for large, but peaceful protests in Sacramento over the weekend.
"Hopefully any demonstrations or protests remain peaceful without any violence or property damage and people are able to express their concerns and their rights and things like that," said the city's police chief, Daniel Hahn.