Stephon Clark: Sacramento basketball team to partner with activists who protested at games

Sacramento Kings players have sought to show solidarity after police officers shot and killed Stephon Clark

Sacramento Kings forward Vince Carter wears a shirt during warmups honouring Stephon Clark (Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports)

Sacramento’s professional basketball team announced a community partnership with activists who have disrupted multiple games in protesting a police shooting.

The Sacramento Kings will work with the city’s Black Lives Matter chapter and the newly launched Build. Black. Coalition to create an education fund for young people in African-American communities. Among the recipients will be the children of Stephon Clark, who was shot and killed by police officers last week.

Black Lives Matter Sacramento heralded the announcement in a tweet calling the partnership “Confirmation, that with just right amount of pressure, positive change can come”.

The Kings’ prominence and resources make them potentially formidable partners, Ryan McClinton of Sacramento Area Congregations together said. He noted that Sacramento had rallied behind the team in recent years amid an effort to move it to Seattle.

“The fact that this community fought to keep them where and they’re now fighting for the community, that shows a true investment that they say ‘you know what, we too feel pain by this and want to change the reality’”, Mr McClinton said.

The death of Mr Clark, who was unarmed when police officers fatally shot him in his grandmother’s backyard, has spurred days of protest from Sacramento residents infuriated by the latest killing of an unarmed African-American man.

Demonstrators have twice blocked the entrances to the Kings arena, preventing ticketed guests from entering and delaying play.

But the Kings organisation has largely embraced the protests. Players have sought to show solidarity by wearing shirts during warm-ups bearing Mr Clark's name, and a few days after the initial demonstration led the Kings to lock down the arena, the team released a video in which players called for accountability.

“We will not stick to sports”, Kings small forward Garrett Temple said in the video.

As part of the new initiative, Mr Temple plans to join Kings player Vince Carter and former player Doug Christie plan to attend a youth forum in Sacramento later this week.

In the aftermath of Mr Clark’s death, California attorney general Xavier Becerra has announced that his office would oversee the investigation into the shooting.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who was dramatically confronted by Stephon Clark’s brother Stevonte during a city council meeting earlier this week, welcomed Mr Becerra’s involvement as helping to guarantee a thorough and fair investigation.