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Street protests have erupted in Sacramento, California after footage was released showing police officers fatally shooting a 22-year-old unarmed Black man 20 times. The demonstrators brought traffic to a halt for several hours.
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The incident occurred after police officers were called to the neighborhood Sunday to respond to a report of someone "breaking into cars."
Stephen Clark, a father of two, was first spotted by officers in his grandmother's backyard. After chasing him a short distance, the officers opened fire hit him 20 times. In a body camera, audio recording the officers are only heard identifying themselves after firing on Clark, according to a report by the Washington Post. While the body camera footage worn by officers, reportedly showed the victim holding an unidentified object.
Minutes after the shooting, still not having rendered Clark any medical assistance, a female police officer is heard yelling at him, “We need to know if you're OK. We need to get you medics, but we can't go over to get you help unless we know you don't have your weapon.”
More than five minutes after the final shot was fired and Clark's motionless body lay on the ground, the same female officer says, “Let's have the next unit just bring a non-lethal in case he's pretending.”
Finally, police officers decide to approach his lifeless body, discovering that the object they saw in Clark's possession was his cellphone.
Hundreds of protestors gathered to denounce the killing. They marched onto Interstate 5 at rush hour peak, blocking southbound lanes, according to Reuters.
After blocking traffic on the highway for hours, the demonstrators marched onto the state capital building and Golden I Center sports arena, where a professional basketball game was scheduled to take place.
With the game postponed, the basketball club released a statement asking fans to return home and promising to refund their tickets.
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