Stevante Clark felt a glimmer of hope when racial justice protests swept the globe in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd. His own brother, Stephon Clark, was killed by Sacramento police in March 2018 after they fired 20 shots at the young Black man in the backyard of his grandparents' home. Police said they feared he had a gun. But he was found to have been holding only a cellphone.
The 22-year-old’s death sparked protests and calls for reform. It also led to a new more stringent use-of-force law in California. Yet, no comprehensive change emerged on a national level.
So, Clark thought Floyd’s killing and those of several other Black Americans by police in 2020 would finally deliver the substantive criminal justice reform that he and others have sought for years.