Quite a few of the reports I have seen about the unconscionable murder of Stephon “Zoe” Clark, simply refers to him as “unarmed black man.” Nothing new, really; there have been hundreds of “unarmed-black-man-gunned-down-by-cops” articles since the advent of cell phone cameras. I usually scour those reports looking to see if the writers are simply reporting on a topic guaranteed to get them eyeballs and clicks — trafficking in black pain — or if they are seeing the human tragedy for what it is.
It is of the utmost importance that the victims of police brutality are humanized; that we remember their names and that we do not forget that they were dynamic, complex, breathing humans who were cruelly robbed of their right to exist. It is important that we remember their traumatized families and friends left behind to mourn their untimely departure.
22-year-old Stephon was a beloved father, a son, a boyfriend, both a big and a little brother; he was also an adored grandson. He’s not to be perpetually referred to as “the suspect” or “the unarmed black man.”
Sequita Thompson, the matriarch of the family, was an earwitness to her grandson’s murder. She heard the shots as they were pumped into her grandbaby’s unresisting body. It happened in the backyard of the family home that was a refuge for her children, her many grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren. The cops flooded her home after the killing. They did not tell her who was killed. For hours they interrogated the family as to what they heard, what they knew without sharing with them that their family member lay dead outside. They instructed her not to go out to her backyard and not to look out her window. She ignored them. She looked out her window and saw her dead grandson on the ground.
And there was his body. His body was right there...right there...right there was my grandson dead with the iPhone right there on the thing...and I have a picture of it. And his earplugs... He was right there dead! And I said to them officers, ‘You guys are murderers, murderers, murderers! You guys killed that baby for nothing! You took him away from his kids for nothing! He didn’t even do nothing to nobody...’
“Feared for their lives”
Police said Clark instead fled from the officers toward the back of the property, where police said he turned and advanced toward the officers with an object in his hands.
"Fearing for their safety," the officers fired multiple rounds at Clark at 9:26 p.m., hitting him several times, the department said.
Lies. More lies. Fucking lies. Even the word “instead” was a fucking lie. But how could they put out a statement that “he turned and advanced toward the officers” when at the time they drafted that lie they knew he only had a cell phone? Why is it that black men are always fleeing from murderous cops and then turning around and advancing toward them in a threatening manner with their empty hands? Better script writers, please! Was he advancing toward them in a threatening manner with a cell phone? Stephon knew that he had a cell phone. He didn’t move toward them with a cell phone extended in the manner of an AR-15. He just didn’t. He didn’t have any crowbars. He had no weapons on him so they could not have feared for their lives, and if they did not fear for their lives, then what follows was a conscious act of murder. Those cops killed Stephon with “malice aforethought.” They fired 20 shots at an unarmed man suspected of breaking windows. And they did not render aid. They stood back and watched him bleeding to death and they continued to shout cover-your-ass commands: “Show me your hands!”“Don’t move!” And when they did approach him after standing and watching him for minutes, they twisted his limp, lifeless arm behind his back and handcuffed him. Even writing that last sentence makes me want to howl like a wounded animal. That was barbarity on top of barbarity. That’s was cruelty at its finest.
Echoes of “Cornbread, Earl, and Me”
One of my favorite movies of all time, is Cornbread, Earl and Me. In this iconic movie, Cornbread — the pride of the community — is running home in the rain with his beloved basketball in one hand and a soda pop in the other. Also out that night was known criminal One Eye who was running from two Los Angeles cops. Four people running that night, and the innocent unarmed black man ends up dead. And just like with the murder of Stephon, one cop was black and the other was white.
What was the strategy?
Look, I don’t know if it was Stephon out there last Sunday night having a mental breakdown of some sort or if it was some petty criminal acting out on his violent impulses. We just do not know that the man the helicopter zeroed in on was the same man who had been smashing car windows. It is possible that more than one man was out there at 8 — 9 pm that Sunday evening. What we do know is that the 911 calls report that the suspect was a six-foot-one man. Stephon, by all accounts, was a tiny man...nowhere near 6 foot tall. We also know that the calls reported petty vandalism and not mass murder. Why did the cops respond with so much hostility and violence?
Please, warn a sister too, won’t you?
- Why didn’t the cops identify themselves?
- If they thought he had a gun, why didn’t they withdraw and split up? The two murderers were standing shoulder to shoulder as they fired off 10 shots each.
- They killed Stephon less than a minute after seeing him for the very first time. Why??
- How did they prepare for an encounter with a 6’ 1” man armed with a crowbar? What was the strategy?
- Why didn’t they offer aid after firing 20 shots at him?
- Why did they handcuff the dead or dying man?
- Why did they mute the audio of their cameras? Isn’t that a sign that they were covering their asses because they knew they had done something egregiously, horrifically wrong?
- Where is the crowbar?
Last week, we reported that police have killed 258 people since the beginning of the year; this week, that number is now up to 281. Twenty-three people killed in 7 days. Cops are killing Americans at the rate of 3 people per day.
Police killed 281 people in 82 days!
Among those killed was 22-year-old Stephon “Zoe” Clark who was killed in the backyard of his family home. He leaves behind two young sons, grieving grandparents and other loved ones.
Rest in power, Zoe. We say your name.