Stephon Clark: 22 years old 

Favorite song: "Ultralight Beam" by Kanye West 

Favorite color: Red

Stephon Alonzo Clark was a 22-year-old man who was shot and killed in the backyard of his grandmother’s house in Sacramento, California by two officers of the Sacramento Police Department on March 18, 2018. Officers were responding to a call of a suspect allegedly matching Stephon’s description breaking car windows. Helicopter cameras led police to Stephon’s grandmother’s home, where they confronted him with guns drawn and demanding he show his hands. When he did, one of the officers yelled “gun gun gun!” In a matter of three seconds, the officers fired 20 rounds at Stephon and stated that they believed he had pointed a gun at them. Initial police reports the day after the shooting stated that Stephon was armed with a tool bar, which was revised later that night to state that Stephon was carrying an iPhone and was unarmed, no tools used to break car windows were found at the scene. An independent autopsy found that Stephon was shot a total of eight times, six times in the back. Officers waited five minutes before providing medical assistance and intentionally muted their body cameras when more officers arrived. Stephon’s death was not instantaneous, and instead spanned three to ten minutes.  

The Sacramento District Attorney announced that the police officers who had killed Stephon would not be charged because they had probable cause to stop him and were legally justified in the use of deadly force. The city settled a civil lawsuit with Stephon’s young sons for $2.4 million to be distributed when the children turn 22. 

On August 19, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Stephon Clark Law (Assembly Bill 392) which requires that police officers use deadly force only when “necessary” as opposed to the previous law, which allowed the use of deadly force whenever officers thought it “reasonable.” Sacramento now has one of the strictest Police Use of Force Laws in the country. 

After his death, Stephon’s family created the IAMSAC Foundation, establishing “Stephon’s House,” a resource recreational museum library center dedicated to the life and ongoing legacy of Stephon Clark.