Steinberg Pledges To Review City's Use-Of-Force Policies In Wake Of Officer-Involved Shootings
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Black Lives Matters protestors stormed city hall by the hundreds on Thursday.
Their anger intensified, less than 24 hours after the release of police body camera video showing the moments two officers unload a barrage of gunfire at Stephon Clark -- at least 20 rounds in all -- killing the 22-year-old.
"Come for me if you want to!" they chanted.
City leaders refused to address the crowd, but moments earlier, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg made his first public statement since the deadly shooting.
"I was horrified by what I saw," he said.
Steinberg promised a full and transparent review of the city's use of force policies for officer-involved shootings, including a moment in the video when officers at the scene appear to mute their cameras after the shooting.
"We intend to ask the question what is the policy around muting your body cam?" he said.
Back outside, there was a louder call for justice.
Protestors brought their children and stood in the middle of I Street. They didn't let traffic go through, in the peak of rush hour.
Elijah Jones held his sign on the sidewalk. He just wants his friend Stephon Clark to be remembered as a family man.
"He had two kids. It just doesn't make sense at all," he said.
But police maintain Clark was smashing car windows in a South Sacramento neighborhood when they chased him to his grandparents' backyard. Officers say they thought he was pointing a gun at them. That's when they fired.
Police never found a firearm. Only a cell phone.
"It was only a cell phone!" protesters chanted.
Clark's father was also in the crowd. He stayed off to the side to avoid the cameras but told us his family attorneys are hard at work.
Meanwhile, Mayor Steinberg announced a public city meeting on April 10 to discuss and review shooting protocols.