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The fight to fire the cops who shot and killed Stephon Clark is still raging

Only a handful of people have been arrested — until this week.
Sacramento is still furious a year after Stephon Clark was gunned down by cops

Protests have been going on in Sacramento since police shot and killed Stephon Clark, an unarmed, 22-year-old black man, in his grandmother's backyard in March 2018. Despite a year full of demonstrations that have interrupted NBA games and blocked traffic on the freeway, only a handful of people have been arrested.

That is, until this week.

When protesters marched in a rich neighborhood known as the ”Fab 40s” on Monday, police arrested 84 people in one night, including a member of the clergy and some journalists.

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Monday’s march was as much a response to Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert’s announcement that she would not prosecute the two police officers who shot Clark as it was blowback against her characterization of the young, black man.

“We expected the DA not to prosecute. We didn’t expect her to convict Clark of his own murder,” one protester shouted during Monday’s demonstration.

In justifying why the two officers should not face charges, Schubert brought up Clark’s previous domestic violence arrests and said that he had drugs in his system when he died. She also suggested that Clark may have been suicidal.

Community activists are now pushing the city manager and the chief of police to fire the two officers who killed Clark, but they aren’t optimistic about their chances. VICE News met with protesters to hear why they are worried about will happen next.

This segment originally aired March 7, 2019, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.

Cover Image: Black Lives Matter protesters march through the streets of Sacramento, California on March 4, 2019. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)