Thursday, March 28, 2024

Video: Sacramento Protesters Disrupt NBA Game Over Police Shooting of Unarmed Black Man

[videowaywire video_id=”20301E80DED7F25D”]

*Protests took place in Sacramento on Thursday, four days after Stephon Clark, an unarmed black man, was shot by police in his grandmother’s backyard.

Chanting “Black Lives Matter” and the name of the 22-year-old who was killed, demonstrators blocked the entrance to the Golden 1 Center, where the hometown Sacramento Kings defeated the Atlanta Hawks in a nearly empty arena, according to CNN. Most ticket holders weren’t able to get inside, and the Sacramento Police at one point tweeted that “no one else will be admitted to the #SacKings game.”

The NBA and the Kings made the decision to close the doors, Sgt. Vance Chandler of the Sacramento Police Department told CNN. The game started with a delay and the team said it would refund the tickets.

Outside the arena, protesters linked arms and chanted at fans, “Join us or go home!” The demonstrators began to disperse at night, and police made no arrests.

Police said the officers who fired at Clark believed he had a gun. Investigators said they did not find a weapon, only a cell phone.

Earlier in the day, protesters had also marched into Sacramento’s City Hall and onto an interstate highway calling for the arrest of the two officers and demanding to see Police Chief Daniel Hahn. The protest, which was organized by Black Lives Matter Sacramento, briefly spilled onto Interstate 5 after the group left City Hall.

After the game, Sacramento Kings owner and chairman Vivek Ranadivé addressed the crowd, joined by the team’s players, coaches, front office and executives.

“On Sunday we had a horrific, horrific tragedy in our community,” Ranadivé said, in reference to the shooting, and conveyed sympathies for the Clark family.

“We at the Kings recognize people’s ability to protest peacefully and we respect that,” he said. “We here at the Kings recognize that we have a big platform. It’s a privilege, but it’s also a responsibility. It’s a responsibility that we take very seriously. And we stand here before you — old, young, black, white, brown — and we are all united in our commitment.”

“We recognize that it’s not just business as usual, and we are going to work really hard to bring everybody together to make the world a better place, starting with our own community, and we’re going to work really hard to prevent this kind of a tragedy from happening again.” (Watch the video above.)

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