A woman was struck by a police vehicle as it peeled away from protesters demonstrating against the police killing of Stephon Clark in what was described by the victim and protesters as a hit and run, according to videos at the scene.
Marchers took to the street Saturday night, part of days-long protests in the wake of the killing of Clark, 22, an unarmed black man shot to death by police March 18. Demonstrations have been particularly tense since Thursday, when an independent autopsy report concluded Clark was struck eight times, mostly in the back. The incident was recorded on police body cameras.
In a video published by ABC10, a throng of protesters took to busy Florin Road south of downtown chanting slogans like “Say his name! Stephon Clark!” among moving traffic. A group of what appears to be around two dozen approach a Sacramento County Sheriff police cruiser and surround it. “When people are occupied, resistance is justified” the crowd chants.
The cruiser’s lights flash and the siren blares. Another cruiser pulls up to behind in an apparent move to back up the first vehicle.
“Back away from my vehicle,” a deputy says four times into a loudspeaker. After a few moments, the car slowly pulls forward, and a woman emerges from the crowd in between the cruisers.
The second vehicle strikes her and she goes to the ground. In a video recorded by public defender and legal observer Guy Danilowitz, the woman’s white sign is lit up by the headlights before impact.
The longer ABC10 video does not show deputies circling back. Metro firemen arrive about seven minutes later to load the woman onto a stretcher and take her to an ambulance. The Sacramento Bee identified her as local activist Wanda Cleveland. She was treated and released after midnight for bruises to her arm and back of the head.
“He never even stopped. It was a hit and run. If I did that I’d be charged,” Cleveland told the Bee. “It’s disregard for human life.” She said she was obeying the order to disperse and was heading to the curb due to arthritis pain in her knees when she was struck, Cleveland said.
[Stephon Clark was shot eight times, mostly in his back, according to autopsy]
In a statement, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department said the collision occurred at “slow speeds” after protesters were “yelling while pounding and kicking the vehicles’ exterior.” The vehicle suffered scratches, dents and a shattered rear window caused by vandals and unrelated to the collision, according to spokesman Sgt. Shaun Hampton.
The incident is under investigation by the California Highway Patrol while the department conducts an internal review, Hampton added. It was not immediately clear if any disciplinary measures would be taken.
The department did not immediately return a request asking if the deputies involved appear to have violated laws that prohibit individuals from leaving the scene of an collision, or what law generally says about failing to render aid in an occurrence like the incident.
“I heard wheels spin. And then I saw her body flung to the curb,” Tifanei Ressl-Moyer, another legal observer who witnessed the incident, told the Bee. “The vehicle sped off and some protesters went after them.”
In the ABC10 video, California Highway Patrol vehicles sit on the road behind the responding firetruck and become the next target for protesters, including one dismounted officer.
“Hit and run! Hit and run!” the crowd chants. A protester wearing a Colin Kaepernick jersey roams in front of the cruisers repeating “shame, shame, shame.” Obscenities are hurled, along with a glass bottle that shatters in the street.
The cruisers kick into reverse and throttle backward, away from the simmering crowd.
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