In case you haven’t yet heard the sickening news that came out this afternoon, the results of the independent autopsy of 22-year-old Stephon Clark have been released. The unarmed Clark died March 18 in what amounted to a summary execution when two trigger-happy Sacramento, California, police officers blasted him with 20 rounds in his grandmother’s back yard after a brief foot chase. The autopsy shows that eight of those bullets struck Clark. Here’s the Sacramento Bee on the story:
The autopsy found no bullet entries in the front. Instead, the review concluded that Clark was facing a house with his left side to officers when they opened fire and hit him first in the left side under the arm. The force of that round spun him around with his back to officers, and six rounds penetrated his back moving in a forward trajectory, the Clark family legal team said. [...]
The review was conducted by prominent pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu, the former chief medical examiner in San Joaquin County best known for his research on football-related concussions. [...]
“He was facing the house, with his left to the officers," Omalu said. "He wasn’t facing the officers. His left back was facing the officers.”
Omalu said it took 3 to 10 minutes for Clark to die: "It was not an instant death." Activists and family members have criticized the two officers for waiting to render medical aid.
Police responded to a 911 call saying a 6’ 1” man in a hoodie was breaking car windows and tried to break into a house. On police body camera videos released three days after the shooting, the two officers see Clark at the side of his grandparents’ house and chase him. One tells him to raise his hands followed instantly by “Gun! Gun! Gun!” Less than a second later, they begin shooting. Time elapsed from when they first see him until the first shot is fired: 11 seconds.
No gun was found at the scene, just Clark’s white cell phone.
The Bee included a diagram showing the eight entry and two exit wounds from the officers’ .40 caliber semi-automatic pistols.
Hours after hearing the autopsy conclusions, the city’s Black Lives Matter chapter announced in a Facebook post that at 8 PM, “We will be meeting at city hall and going from there!!!”
As tensions grew Friday following the autopsy release, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg issued a statement [...]
"From the moment we saw the video we knew the details of this horrific shooting were graphic and disturbing," he said in an afternoon statement. "We have an obligation to everyone involved, including the family of Stephon Clark, to wait for the full findings and results from the official autopsy and investigation.
"As the mayor of our city, I assure the community and the public that we will aggressively seek answers to all of the questions the community is rightfully asking. As important, we will aggressively seek appropriate change to the protocols and training that led to this unacceptable outcome.”
TOP COMMENTS • HIGH IMPACT STORIES • OVERNIGHT NEWS DIGEST
QUOTATION
President Richard M. Nixon: I still think we ought to take the [Vietnamese] dikes out now. Will that drown people?
National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger: About 200,000 people.
Nixon: No, no, no …. I’d rather use the nuclear bomb. Have you got that, Henry?
Kissinger: That, I think, would just be too much.
Nixon: The nuclear bomb, does that bother you? I just want you to think big, Henry, for Christsakes.”
(From tape of Oval Office conversations on April 25, 1972.)
TWEET OF THE DAY
UPDATE: City Hall protest tonight.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
On this date at Daily Kos in 2009—Reforming the ‘Big Three’
While most of the discussion today is about whether the Obama administration made the right or wrong choice by ousting GM's Rick Wagoner and demanding a more comprehensive makeover than GM or Chrysler had provided as part of their deal to get taxpayer assistance, Robert Scott over at the Economic Policy Institute had some things to say about how the Big Three should be investing in America.
While GM, Ford, and Chrysler production in Mexico increased in 2008, it fell in the United States and Canada. GM has invested $3.6 billion in Mexico in the past three years and is increasing its commitment to Mexican production by having its new Aveo subcompact built there instead of in the United States (Black 2008). And the Big Three plan even greater future investments outside of the United States: GM announced plans to invest $1 billion in Brazil (Ortolani 2008), and Chrysler is investing $570 million in a new engine factory near Saltillo in the Mexican state of Coahuila. At the same time, GM and Chrysler are seeking nearly $22 billion in additional restructuring aid from the Obama administration.This, writes Scott, indicates a clear need for the government to make future taxpaid funding for GM and Chrysler dependent on a restructuring that includes an investment here at home instead of sending those production jobs out of the country.
The problem is that administration's Path to Viability for GM and Chrysler that requires aggressive restructuring also may contribute to further pushing the companies to reduce their U.S. manufacturing footprint and increase their outsourcing off-shoring. That would add more losses to the 369,000 jobs already lost in the auto industry and auto parts makers since December 2007. And when recovery does happen, more U.S. auto jobs would be outside the country than ever before.
As Scott says, "This would conflict with the President’s announced 'commitment to support an auto industry that can help revive modern manufacturing.'"
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Stringless teabags are the future liberals want. What is Teh Journamalisms? Are California voters, seeking to register as independents, accidentally registering with a fringe party? Milo winds up one of his grift operations. Scott Pruitt's latest scandal examined.
RadioPublic|LibSyn|YouTube|Patreon|Square Cash (Share code: Send $5, get $5!)