Protesters standoff with police at Sacramento forum for officer-involved shooting

Lisa Amin Gulezian Image
ByLisa Amin Gulezian KGO logo
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Protesters standoff with police at Sacramento forum for officer-involved shooting
There was a standoff Tuesday night between protesters and police at Sacramento City Hall. It comes after emotions ignited at a city council public forum about the killing of 22-year-old Stephon Clark, who died during an officer-involved shooting.

SACRAMENTO (KGO) -- There was a standoff Tuesday night between protesters and police at Sacramento City Hall.

It comes after emotions ignited at a city council public forum about the killing of 22-year-old Stephon Clark, who died during an officer-involved shooting.

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Anger erupted in the meeting after protesters say police rushed into a crowd that was pounding on city council chamber windows.

Police had a strong presence in the area all evening.

Even at the start of the meeting, tensions were high after Clark's brother interrupted the proceedings, which were supposed to be dedicated to the public and their response to the killing of Clark, a week and a half ago.

Sacramento police shot the 22-year-old in his grandmother's backyard.

RELATED: Sacramento police department says officers receiving death threats after fatal shooting

Bodycam video shows officers firing 20 rounds into Clark, who was unarmed. Police suspected that he was holding a gun, but it was a cellphone.

"People are suffering, we are tired. Those officers need to be fired," said Tanya Faison of Black Lives Matter Sacramento.

"You don't need no training," said Reverand Charles Oliver, a Sacramento resident. "What you do is make them accountable for what they do."

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg tried to empathize with the crowd. "For people and communities of color, the legal and political system is unjust."

His words seemed to fall on deaf ears, because the demand is for immediate change.

Click here for more stories, photos, and video regarding officer-involved shootings in the Bay Area and around the country.