Sac DA Charges Stephon Clark Protestor for Picketing Her Office

Uncharged Demonstrator Said Police Assaulted Her, and She Feared for Her Life – DA Video Appears to Support Her Claim Police Were Violent

By Crescenzo Vellucci
Sacramento Courtwatch

SACRAMENTO – Sometimes a video can work in your favor, and sometime it does not – even if you “spin” it for the public.

Wednesday, two Black Lives Matter Sacramento protestors arrested April 12 at a demonstration at the office of embattled Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert were set to be arraigned in Sacramento County Superior Court here.

And Schubert’s office – which didn’t file charges against one demonstrator but did against another – has conveniently released video recordings for the news media and public to swallow “hook, line and sinker” in an attempt to discredit demonstrators who are calling for her to charge two City of Sacramento police officers for the killing of unarmed Stephon Clark March 18.

The released video of demonstrators doesn’t appear to be any more beneficial for Schubert than the video released by the Sacramento Police Dept. showing officers blasting unarmed, except for a cell phone, Stephon Clark 20 times – striking him eight times, the majority of them in his back.

And, it didn’t work any better for Schubert than it did for Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, who released dash-camera footage – something he never does – in an attempt to illustrate how a 61-year-old Stephon Clark protestor was in the wrong when she was run down by a sheriff’s vehicle in an apparent hit-and-run last month and sent to the hospital.

In all cases, including Schubert’s, these attempts to denigrate victims appeared to largely fail.

In the DA office protest, the video clearly shows police as the aggressors, attacking the outnumbered 25-30 protestors as they held signs in a public alley. Was it a noisy protest? Yes. But protests aren’t protests if they are not noticed, said observers.

Ebony Ava Harper was charged Wednesday with resisting arrest and refusing a police order and will return to court June 4. But another demonstrator, Melisa Price, was not charged – although she was roughed up by police and spent about five hours in the county jail.

In an exclusive interview with The Davis Vanguard, Price said it was Sacramento Police who assaulted her, she feared for her life and she contradicted what police told media about the scene.

“Sac PD arrived on bikes in riot helmets.  Suddenly and forcefully, I and others near me were pushed with bikes and the people near me were tased. I had my hands up as they pushed me.  As those around me were tased and stepped back, I was arrested. Officers drove the truck twice to a deserted parking lot and stopped.  Each time I thought that we would be raped, or beaten. I feared for my life,” said Price.

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