SHARE THIS ACTION ALERT
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Update: Sacramento District Attorney Annie Marie Schubert eventually decided not to file charges against the officers who killed Stephon Clark. But the Clark family sued the city of Sacramento for $20 million and reached a settlement in June 2019. Additionally, artist A.J. Kute painted a three-story high portrait of Stephon Clark on the side of a building in Improv Alley in downtown Sacramento. The project was funded by the ACLU of Northern California.
During the evening of March 18, 2018, Sacramento Police officers Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet were tasked with investigating a 911 call about a man breaking car windows in the city’s West End neighborhood. A police helicopter circling the area identified a suspect looking into parked cars and moving through the yards of local residents.
Mercadal and Robinet made their way to the suspect and engaged him with gunfire almost immediately. The two officers fired a total of 20 rounds, and the suspect quickly collapsed onto the lawn where he was standing.
The suspect the officers shot was 22 year-old Stephon Clark, and he was standing in the backyard of the home where he lived with his grandmother. Clark was unarmed and holding only a cell phone. He was hit six times in the back, once in the leg, and once in the neck by bullets. Dr. Bennett Omalu of “Concussion” fame conducted an independent autopsy on Clark and believes he was still alive for 3–10 minutes after the shooting. But Mercadal and Robinet failed to administer first aid or call an ambulance. Instead, they handcuffed Clark and watched him bleed to death. Then they turned their body camera mics off.
The Sacramento Police have yet to offer any reasonable explanation for the murder of a suspected vandal, saying only that Mercadal and Robinet thought they saw a gun in what was essentially pitch darkness. The two officers have yet to face any disciplinary action.
Please contact Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert through one of the channels below and give them the following message (personalized to your liking):
I am contacting you today to demand that you indict Sacramento Police officers Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet on charges of manslaughter (or a similar charge) for killing Stephon Clark on the evening of March 18. I refuse to live in a society where the shooting of young, unarmed black men by police becomes routine and accepted. This was, at best, an act of incredible negligence that leaves behind two young boys who will never get to know their father. It’s time to change the violent culture that has been embraced by America’s cops. We can and must do better and you have an immediate, positive role to play. Charge these two officers and send a clear signal that your office will no longer tolerate human life being taken this lightly.
Phone: (916) 572-7501 or (916) 874-6218
Email: daoffice@sacda.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SacCountyDA/photos/a.136220736498234.24767.115098888610419/1595203227266637/
Once you have contacted DA Schubert, click the orange banner below to report taking action!