SACRAMENTO, California: Two Sacramento police officers won’t face criminal charges for the fatal shooting of a black man following a chase that ended in his grandparents’ yard and started a series of angry protests that roiled California’s capital city, the county’s top prosecutor announced Saturday following a nearly yearlong investigation.
Officers Terrance Mercadal and Jared Robinet acted within the law when they shot 22-year-old Stephon Clark seven times, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert concluded, noting that the evidence supported their account that Clark was moving toward them when they opened fire.
Schubert said the evidence, including their reactions captured on body cameras, supported the officers’ statements that they thought Clark was pointing a gun.
It turned out Clark was holding only a cellphone. His family and their supporters expressed anger and disappointment, and accused Schubert of unnecessarily revealing grim details of Clark’s personal life.
“Whatever his character is or his actions prior to those officers gunning him down, is no one’s business,” said Clark’s mother, SeQuette, who had a brief and contentious meeting with Schubert before the DA made her announcement. “It’s not justification. That’s not a permit to kill him.”
Schubert said the decision not to file charges against the officers “does not diminish in any way the tragedy, the anger and the frustration that we heard since the time of his death. ...
“We cannot ignore that there is rage within our community.”
Before Schubert had finished speaking, about 100 people were protesting peacefully in chilly rain outside Sacramento’s police headquarters.
The shooting last March prompted a series of larger demonstrations and protesters twice disrupted games for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings — once when they blocked thousands of fans from leaving the arena and another time when they blocked fans from entering. That game was played in a nearly empty arena.
During an hour-long presentation where she delved into minute details of the investigation and explained her legal reasoning, Schubert repeatedly apologized for raising the personal details.
Schubert revealed Clark was facing possible jail time after a domestic violence complaint two days earlier from Salena Manni, the mother of his children. He also had researched suicide websites including those that suggested using the tranquilizer Xanax, which was among several drugs found in his system after his death.
The district attorney stopped short of saying that Clark was attempting to kill himself, but said “a jury would be able to consider that evidence.”
“I can’t tell ultimately what was going on in his mind,” Schubert said. “He was in a state of despair and he was impaired, and that may have affected his judgment.”
The disclosures brought additional outcries from Clark’s relatives and protest leaders. They said the details weren’t relevant to whether the officers acted properly.
Black Lives Matter leader Tanya Faison said she did not realistically expect Schubert to criminally charge the officers, but “we did not expect her to go so low to mention something that happened two days prior, to show personal text messages between him and the mother of his children, to show that he contemplated suicide. ... Those officers didn’t know any of that when they had him in the backyard and they killed him.”
SeQuette Clark held out the hope that her son’s death would result in systemic change, a hope echoed by statements from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, legislative leaders, Sacramento’s mayor and black religious leaders who urged protesters to channel their anger into positive steps.
“This is just the beginning. The fight for justice has just begun,” Clark’s mother said at a news conference held in the home outside of which her son was killed. Later, Clark’s grandmother, Sequita Thompson, was taken by ambulance to a hospital after falling ill. No details on her condition were available.
Several officials supported pending state legislation that would allow police to use deadly force only if there is no reasonable alternative, including non-lethal force or efforts to calm the situation. Newsom did not address the bill, but called for “systemic reforms that reduce inequities, increase community confidence in our criminal justice system, and that reinforce the sanctity of human life.”
Clark’s family, including his two sons, his parents and his grandparents, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in January seeking more than $20 million from the city, Mercadal and Robinet, alleging that the officers used excessive force and that he was a victim of racial profiling.
Attorneys for Clark’s family disputed Schubert’s conclusion by citing a competing autopsy by Dr. Bennet Omalu, who said the autopsy he conducted for the family showed police shot Clark seven times from behind. Omalu is the pathologist whose study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in football players prompted the NFL to adopt new safety rules designed to prevent concussions.
Schubert said the official autopsy showing Clark was most likely shot as he approached police was reviewed by four pathologists and two independent experts. One of them acted on behalf of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is conducting his own investigation at the request of local officials.
She also said for the first time that physical evidence showed that Clark was indeed the man who broke three vehicle windows and an elderly man’s sliding glass patio door. Previously police had not said definitively that he was the vandal they were chasing.
Enhanced video from a police helicopter showed Clark was empty handed as he jumped a fence and moved alongside his grandparents’ home before he was chased by officers. Another enhanced photo from an officer’s body camera showed a flash of light from Clark’s position near his grandparents’ back door, which Schubert said supported an officer’s statement that he thought he saw a muzzle flash from a gun. She said enhanced audio revealed Clark cursed at officers as he moved toward their position.
The Sacramento Police Officers Association and Sacramento police department did not respond to requests for comment on behalf of the two officers cleared of criminal wrongdoing.
Sacramento police noted that they have not yet decided if the officers broke any department policies. They and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said the department has since increased training, limited foot pursuits like those in the Clark case, and committed to quickly releasing videos of officer-involved shootings.
Regardless of whether officers acted legally, Steinberg said, “the outcome was wrong — he should not have died.”
US police officers who shot Stephon Clark eight times will not be charged
US police officers who shot Stephon Clark eight times will not be charged
- Schubert said the decision not to file charges against the officers “does not diminish in any way the tragedy, the anger and the frustration that we heard since the time of his death. ...
A Nigerian chess champion is trying to break the world record for the longest chess marathon
- Tunde Onakoya, 29, is playing against Shawn Martinez, an American chess champion, in line with Guinness World Record
- Onakoya, who founded Chess in Slums Africa, hopes to raise $1 million for children’s education across Africa
NEW YORK: A Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate is attempting to play chess nonstop for 58 hours in New York City’s Times Square to break the global record for the longest chess marathon.
Tunde Onakoya, 29, hopes to raise $1 million for children’s education across Africa. He is playing against Shawn Martinez, an American chess champion, in line with Guinness World Record guidelines that any attempt to break the record must be made by two players who would play continuously for the entire duration.
Onakoya had played chess for 42 hours by 10:00 a.m. GMT on Friday. Support is growing online and at the scene, where a blend of African music is keeping onlookers and supporters entertained amid cheers and applause.
The current chess marathon record is 56 hours, 9 minutes and 37 seconds, achieved in 2018 by Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad, both from Norway.
The record attempt is “for the dreams of millions of children across Africa without access to education,” said Onakoya, who founded Chess in Slums Africa in 2018. The organization wants to support education of at least 1 million children in slums across the continent.
“My energy is at 100 percent right now because my people are here supporting me with music,” Onakoya said Thursday evening after the players crossed the 24-hour mark.
On Onakoya’s menu: Lots of water and jollof rice, one of West Africa’s best known dishes.
For every hour of game played, Onakoya and his opponent get only five minutes’ break. The breaks are sometimes grouped together, and Onakoya uses them to catch up with Nigerians and New Yorkers cheering him on. He even joins in with their dancing sometimes.
A total of $22,000 was raised within the first 20 hours of the attempt, said Taiwo Adeyemi, Onakoya’s manager.
“The support has been overwhelming from Nigerians in the US, global leaders, celebrities and hundreds of passersby,” he said.
Onakoya’s attempt is closely followed in Nigeria where he regularly organizes chess competitions for young people living on the streets to boost his cause. More than 10 million children are out of school in the West African country — one of the world’s highest rates.
Among those who have publicly supported him are celebrities and public office holders, including Nigeria’s former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who wrote to Onakoya on X, formerly Twitter: “Remember your own powerful words: ‘It is possible to do great things from a small place.’“
The Guinness World Record organization has yet to publicly comment about Onakoya’s attempt, which could reach 58 hours by midnight on Friday. It sometimes takes weeks for the organization to confirm any new record.
Used missiles for sale: Iranian weapons used against Israel are up for grabs on Jordan-based website
Used missiles for sale: Iranian weapons used against Israel are up for grabs on Jordan-based website
- Debris used in attack listed on OpenSooq online marketplace
LONDON: Fragments of missiles launched by Iran during the recent attack on Israel have been discovered for sale on Jordan’s prominent OpenSooq website, which is known for trading goods, including vehicles and real estate.
Al Arabiya reported on Sunday that the shrapnel was being advertised, with pieces described as “Used Iranian ballistic missile in good condition for sale,” and “One-time use ballistic missile for sale at an attractive price.”
The sellers had provided specifications and images of the missiles, describing them as “excellent type,” and mentioned their involvement in an “accident” resulting in “severe damage to the body.”
Some listings even included installment payment options.
Iran launched drones and missiles toward Israel late on Saturday as it retaliated following a suspected Israeli strike on the consulate annex building adjacent to the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month.
While most projectiles were intercepted by a joint response from Israel, the US, UK, France, and Jordan, the attack marked Iran’s first direct military assault on Israeli territory, escalating tension and uncertainty in the region.
Following the attack, individuals shared photographs online showing debris that had fallen on Jordanian territory in areas such as Al-Hasa, Marj Al-Hamam, and Karak Governorate.
The Jordanian government confirmed that it had intercepted some flying objects in its airspace, with no reported damage or injuries.
Debris from such incidents often holds economic value. Metal debris from the Iraq War has been used by Iran-backed groups to finance their activities.
Similar items are sold online as military memorabilia, and there has been a surge in demand for such artifacts, as seen in Australia last year, preceding the country’s ban on the sale of hate symbols.
Google Doodle celebrates Lebanese-American poet and artist Etel Adnan
- Etel Adnan rose to fame for her 1977 novel Sitt Marie Rose about the Lebanese civil war
DUBAI: Google released its latest Doodle on Monday honoring Etel Adnan, a Lebanese-American poet, essayist and visual artist, considered one of the most accomplished Arab-American authors of her era.
The poet, who rose to fame for her 1977 novel Sitt Marie Rose about the Lebanese civil war, was born in Lebanon in 1925 to a Greek mother and a Syrian father, and grew up in multiple cultures, languages, nationalities and religions. Sitt Marie Rose won the France-Pays Arabes award and become a classic of war literature, so much so that it is taught in American classrooms.
In 1949, Adnan went to Paris to study philosophy at the Sorbonne before going to America to study at Harvard and Berkeley.
From 1958 to 1972, she taught philosophy in California, during which time she also started painting and writing poetry. She developed her literary voice in English and said abstract painting was the entry point into her native Arabic.
Adnan returned to Beirut, where from 1972 to 1976 she worked as the arts editor for two newspapers. She returned to California in 1979, then spent her later years living between Paris and Beirut.
In 2003, Adnan was named “arguably the most celebrated and accomplished Arab American author writing today” by the academic journal MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States.
Adnan’s most recent honor was in 2020. Her poetry collection “Time,” which is a selection of her work — translated from French by Sarah Riggs — won the Griffin Poetry Prize.
The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, or Ithra, earlier this year opened an eponymous exhibition in her honor – “Etel Adnan: Between East and West” – showcasing 41 of her works. The space at Ithra’s gallery is the first solo exhibition of Adnan’s work in Saudi Arabia, running until June 30.
The works on display span from the beginning of Adnan’s artistic career in the late 1950s through to her final creations in 2021, shortly before her death that year aged 96.
Some of the works are on loan from significant international institutions such as the Sharjah Art Foundation, Sfier-Semler Gallery and Sursock Museum. Some are part of private collections.
‘HELP’ written in palm fronds lands rescue for Pacific castaways
- The trio became stranded on Pikelot Atoll, a tiny island in the remote Western Pacific, after their motor-powered skiff malfunctioned
- A US Navy aircraft saw the "help" sign and a ship came later to rescue the stranded trio, all experienced mariners in their 40s
LOS ANGELES: Sometimes all you have to do is ask for “HELP“: That’s what three men stranded on a deserted Pacific island learned earlier this week, writing the message in palm fronds which were spotted by US rescuers.
The trio, all experienced mariners in their 40s, became stranded on a lonely island after setting off from Micronesia’s Polowat Atoll on March 31 in their motor-powered skiff which subsequently experienced damage.
They were reported missing last Saturday by a woman who told the US Coast Guard her three uncles never returned from Pikelot Atoll, a tiny island in the remote Western Pacific.
“In a remarkable testament to their will to be found, the mariners spelled out ‘HELP’ on the beach using palm leaves, a crucial factor in their discovery,” said search and rescue mission coordinator Lt. Chelsea Garcia.
She reported that the trio was discovered Sunday on Pikelot Atoll by a US Navy aircraft.
“This act of ingenuity was pivotal in guiding rescue efforts directly to their location,” she said.
The aircraft crew dropped survival packages, and rescuers one day later dropped a radio which the mariners used to communicate that they were in good health, had access to food and water, and that the motor on their 20-foot (six-meter) skiff was no longer working.
On Tuesday morning a ship rescued the trio and their equipment, returning them to Polowat Atoll, the Coast Guard said.
In August 2020, three Micronesian sailors also stranded on Pikelot were rescued after Australian and US warplanes spotted a giant “SOS” they had scrawled on the beach.
Dining hall with Trojan War decorations uncovered in ancient Roman city of Pompeii
- One fresco depicts Paris and Helen, whose love affair caused the Trojan War, according to classical accounts
- Pompeii and the surrounding countryside was submerged by volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius exploded in AD 79
ROME: A black-walled dining hall with 2,000-year-old paintings inspired by the Trojan War has been discovered during excavations at the Roman city of Pompeii, authorities said on Thursday.
The size of the room — about 15 meters long and 6 meters wide — the quality of the frescoes and mosaics from the time of Emperor Augustus, and the choice of characters suggest it was used for banquets, Pompeii Archaeological Park said.
“The walls were painted black to prevent the smoke from the oil lamps being seen on the walls,” Gabriel Zuchtriegel, head of the park, said.
“People would meet to dine after sunset, and the flickering light of the lamps had the effect of making the images appear animated, especially after a few glasses of good Campanian wine.”
Pompeii and the surrounding countryside was submerged by volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius exploded in AD 79, killing thousands of Romans who had no idea they were living beneath one of Europe’s biggest volcanoes.
The site has seen a burst of archaeological activity aimed at halting years of decay and neglect, largely thanks to a 105-million-euro ($112 million) European Union-funded project.
The dominant theme of the newly discovered paintings is heroism and fate.
One fresco depicts Paris and Helen, whose love affair caused the Trojan War, according to classical accounts. Another one shows doomed prophetess Cassandra and the Greco-Roman god Apollo.
According to Greek mythology, Cassandra predicted the Trojan War after receiving the gift of foresight from Apollo, but no-one believed her. This was because of a curse Apollo put upon her for refusing to give herself to him.
