Stephon Clark's Mother, Se'Quette, Issues Response to Vern Piersen of the California District Attorneys Association
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Se'Quette Clark ? the mother of Stephon Clark ? issued a response to California District Attorneys Association President Vern Piersen in response to his letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Last week, the NFL's Inspire Change platform released a public service announcement (PSA) around the tragic death of Stephon, an unarmed 22 year-old man who was fatally shot and killed in his grandmother's backyard in Sacramento, California by two officers from the Sacramento Police Department in 2018. On August 4, Piersen sent a letter to Goodell, asking him to pull the PSA dedicated to Stephon's legacy.
As a result, Se'Quette wanted to highlight a few areas where Pierson's opinion overshadowed the facts of Stephon's murder.
- The young man guilty of car vandalism turned himself in to authorities a week after Stephon was murdered.
- Stephon was not running from the police ? he was running from our neighbor, David, who assumed that he was the suspect. He was chasing Stephon with a bat while on the phone with the 911 dispatcher.
- Since Schubert has been in office, there have been over 50 cases of excessive or deadly force by police officers. Because of her receipt of funds ? donated by the police unions to her political campaign ? she puts their concerns as her priority and has never filed charges against police officers. She uses the Police Bill of Rights as Justification: https://www.cityofsacramento.org/Police/Transparency/Senate-Bill-1421-Releases
- Attorney General Becerra apologized profusely to me for his hands being tied by his department's protocol of investigations in cases like Stephon's. He explained to me his investigation only reviewed Schubert's report and was not a new one. He concluded with encouraging me that, as a result of his findings, the United States Attorney General would do their own investigation and I should receive justice there.
- Six months later, I met with the United States Attorney General for California as well as 2 FBI investigators and Police Chief Daniel Hahn. The AG expressed his sincere condolences before he informed me, they would not be indicting the officers who murdered my son. When I asked why not, his response was 'We don't believe the case to be convictable.' I was devastated by the statement. That statement said to me they knew they officers were guilty, but because they didn't think they would win in court, they chose not to prosecute. Not that they didn't think the officers were guilty, but that they didn't think they could prove it: https://www.kcra.com/article/fbi-doj-wont-charge-sacramento-officers-in-stephon-clarks-shooting-death/29255265
In summary, I will leave you all with something I taught my children while they were growing up: "The truth never needs help or proof. Only the guilty offer up explanations to justify their actions or lack thereof."
I'd like to take a moment to publicly thank Tiana Parker and Kim Kardashian-West for getting over 30,000 signatures on the petition to re-open the investigation of Stephon's case and fire and charge officers Terrance Mercadel and Jared Robinet with murder. I would also like to extend my most sincere gratitude to the NFL's Commissioner Roger Goodell, the Inspire Change campaign and Roc Nation for choosing Stephon Clark as the subject of their latest public service announcement. I pray that as the nation becomes more aware of the injustice in Stephon's case, it will have to be re-opened and investigated honestly and without prejudices or bias.
Sequette Clark
Mother of Stephon Clark; CPO of IAMSAC Foundation and Founder of Stephon Clark Legacy
SOURCE Se'Quette Clark
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