Stephon Clark protest in East Sac ends with 84 arrests

Sac State Black Student Union members, State Hornet reporter among those detained

Will Coburn - The State Hornet

Protesters marched through Sacramento’s Fab 40’s neighborhood, a collection of upscale homes. The protest was organized in response in the Sacramento District Attorney’s decision not to charge the officers involved in the fatal shooting of unarmed 22-year-old Stephon Clark.

Margherita Beale and Kameron Schmid
March 5, 2019

Sacramento State students, journalists and religious leaders were among the confirmed 84 arrested at Monday night’s protest in response to the recent decision not to charge the two police officers who shot and killed Stephon Clark.

The protest was organized by Sacramento activist group The Table in response to Saturday’s announcement by Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert. While unconfirmed, it is rumored to have been said by officers on the scene that the mass arrest was the largest in the department’s history.

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Those detained were released at Cal Expo between 12 and 2 a.m. in waves of three to six people. Community members, friends, family and activists waited at the “California” sign in anticipation, and cheers and applause followed every time a group of newly released detainees made the reported half-mile walk to the area where everyone was stationed.

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Most of those detained received citations for “failure to disperse” and upon arriving at Cal Expo, were met by members of the National Lawyers Guild, who took photos of each of the citations.

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According to Sgt. Vance Chandler, spokesperson for the Sacramento Police Department, a crowd first began gathering around 6:30 p.m. at a Trader Joe’s supermarket on Folsom Boulevard in Sacramento. As the night continued, protesters moved through the Fab 40s neighborhood, a community of upscale homes in East Sacramento.

“Shortly after we started monitoring the group at approximately 7:30, we established that the group was unlawfully assembling by standing in the street and we also received information that multiple vehicles in the area were vandalized,” Chandler said at a press conference late Monday night.

Police made “at least 10 announcements” for protesters to disperse over a two hour period, Chandler said.

“We need folks to still be free and not in jail when the next action comes. It’s time to disperse, it’s time to disperse,” an unidentified protester said over a megaphone.

Khalil Ferguson, an international relations major and founder of Sac State Black Student Union, was also in attendance to the protest and was among those arrested.

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In addition, The State Hornet co-news editor Will Coburn, The Sacramento Bee news reporter Dale Kasler and Sacramento Business Journal law and policy reporter Scott Rodd were arrested on the scene of the protest.

Coburn was released around 2 a.m. after spending approximately five hours in custody. Coburn said he was taken to a processing center near Cal Expo after being detained with others on an overpass in East Sacramento.

Brittney Delgado, Will Coburn, Kelly Kiernan, Robyn Dobson, Mitchel Bobo and Sami Soto contributed to this report.