Stevante Clark did what hundreds of Sacramento cops couldn’t. Here’s what he wants to do next

Stevante Clark did not have a plan to bring peace to the streets of Sacramento. He hasn’t studied de-escalation tactics. He doesn’t even think of himself as a leader.

“I’m not the most articulate and eloquent person in the world,” he said.

Yet as Sacramento stood on edge Monday night, the 27-year-old briefly became the city’s de-facto leader. The National Guard troops waited in the wings and an 8 p.m. curfew loomed. But it was Clark — the brother of Stephon Alonzo Clark, who was killed by Sacramento police officers in 2018 — who seemed to make the biggest difference.

Clad in black and wielding a small megaphone, Clark took center stage as hundreds marched through downtown Sacramento, defying the curfew. He spoke powerfully against violence — both the violence committed by police against black men and the violence of “agitators” who had exploited the protests to vandalize and steal.

Clark ended his speech at Cesar E. Chavez Plaza by asking his fellow protesters to go home. Nearly all of them did. The night ended peacefully, minus a handful of arrests for curfew violations.

“I’m not going to stand for divisive rhetoric, I’m not going to stand for violence,” Clark said in an interview. “I’m going to stand for honoring and remembering the memory of George Floyd and Stephon Clark in a positive light. And I know that if we’re going to honor them in a positive light, the way to do that is to honor the legacy of Dr. King and be peaceful and nonviolent.”

At one point during the march, Clark stopped to chastise a man who had climbed on top of a National Guard vehicle.

“There was a guy who jumped on the military Humvee and I told him instantly, ‘get off, he’s not with us,’” said Clark. “We need to know when to separate from those who are not there for the movement and are just there for Instagram, for social media, for women or to capitalize on the legacy of our individuals that we lost to an unjust system.”

Clark said it wasn’t his passionate words, the city’s curfew or the presence of National Guard troops that kept the peace on Monday night. Something bigger and more powerful changed the dynamic, he said.

“What it was about last night is that the spirit of Stephon Clark and George Floyd was in the building,” Clark said. “That’s what was different. The spirit showed up. The National Guard … didn’t stop nothing, they didn’t scare nobody.”

“The spirit was with us,” he added. “And I walked with my brother.”

He said he was also inspired by young people at the march.

“They are our leaders of our movement,” he said. “I caught their energy.”

Clark said he hopes the spirit of this week’s protests can be channeled into political action. At Monday’s protest, he announced plans to recall Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert and Sheriff Scott Jones. He said he will circulate a petition for Schubert’s recall and hopes to announce the official effort “in solidarity with other organizations and other leaders who would like to join when it comes to recalling this crooked district attorney.”

In 2019, Schubert declined to prosecute the officers who shot 22-year-old Stephon Clark to death in his grandparents’ backyard.

Recall efforts are notoriously hard to pull off, even though the political winds appear to be shifting against elected leaders perceived as servile to law enforcement. But Clark is correct in realizing that this moment is ripe for political change, and he has firsthand experience in how it gets done.

After police killed his brother, the Sacramento community pushed for major reforms in the laws governing when police may use force in California. Assembly Bill 392, by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, passed despite strong law enforcement opposition. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it into law last year.

On Tuesday, Asm. Weber and the California Legislative Black Caucus held a press conference to announce a slate of new proposals to remedy historic and persistent injustice against African Americans.

Among the legislative items are bills to restore the voting rights of convicted felons, give California voters a chance to repeal the state’s ban on affirmative action and study the idea of reparations for slavery. With Gov. Newsom pledging to “do better” in addressing systemic racism against African Americans, Weber will have extra leverage to push forward with the agenda of justice. The Editorial Board will take a closer look at these ideas later in the week.

Clark, who briefly ran for Sacramento mayor in 2018 and was arrested on suspicion of felony assault in May, said he knows it isn’t easy to create political change. But he said the death of George Floyd, like the death of his brother, has galvanized people who are “sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

“There’s a completely bigger and deeper social shift,” Clark said. “It’s so big and it’s so deep I can’t even explain to you what it is. I don’t know, but we’ll find out together.”

This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 6:00 AM.