El Dorado County DA joins others in letter to the NFL about Stephon Clark's Legacy ad

The California District Attorneys Association today asked NFL Commissioner Roger
Goodell to pull a video produced by the league as part of its new Inspire Change campaign because it “misrepresents the facts” of the officer involved shooting death of Sacramento resident Stephon Clark in 2018.

Entitled Stephon Clark’s Legacy I #Everyone’s Child (see attached to this article), the video features Mr. Clark’s mother, Sequette Clark, speaking about the tragic death of her son, who died after being shot by Sacramento police officers in 2018 following an escalating confrontation that ended in the backyard of his grandmother’s home.

“Though well-intentioned, the video performs a disservice instead of a public service by omitting the crucial facts which preceded Mr. Clark’s tragic death,” said Vern Pierson, El Dorado County District Attorney and president of the California District Attorneys Association.

Officers involved in the tragedy were cleared of any wrong after independent investigations by the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, the California Attorney General’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.

The video "clearly and poignantly shows the devastating impact Mr. Clark’s death had on his mother," said Pierson, but he advised Goodell that “if the enormity of her grief alone was the content of the video or the purpose behind the NFL campaign, you would not be hearing from us.”

Pierson said, the video fails to put into context the circumstances surrounding Mr. Clark’s death and simply ignores what Attorney General Becerra described as the “critical facts.” Becerra said the police helicopter video showed Clark had ommitted several unlawful acts by breaking the sliding glass door on a neighboring home as well as breaking into cars prior to being confronted by police. All was backed up through bodycam recordings and other evidence, said Pierson. He said Clark was shown as going towards officers, not retreating, and had something shiny in his hand which officers took to be a gun, but it turned out to be a phone.

“By omitting these critical facts, you missed the opportunity to address issues faced by our communities including drug addiction, mental health struggles and domestic violence,” Pierson said, adding “by failing to account for the full set of circumstances surrounding (Mr. Clark’s) death, you are undermining the very foundation of meaningful conversation around unlawful police overreach, brutality and wrongdoing.”

The letter sent to the NFL:

Dear Commissioner Goodell:
The men and women of the California District Attorneys Association applaud
your Inspire Change initiative. We are aligned with your aspirational goals of
creating positive movement in communities across our nation, amplifying the
voices of those traditionally marginalized and ensuring that equity becomes a
reality for all.

Those goals, however, are accomplished only through frank and honest conversation, an unwavering commitment to facts and relentless selfassessment and accountability in how we are perceived in our communities.

This includes you and your organization.

To that end, we must take issue with the video recently released by the NFL
entitled Stephon Clark's Legacy | #EveryonesChild. The video clearly and
poignantly shows the devastating impact Mr. Clark’s death had on his mother.
The pride she has for her son and the loss she is suffering is profound and
moving. If the enormity of her grief alone was the content of the video or the
purpose behind the NFL campaign, you would not be hearing from us.

However, the video misrepresents the facts of this tragic incident. In March
2019, the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office and the California Attorney
General’s Office released their independent findings involving the circumstances that led to the tragic death of Stephon Clark.

We encourage you and your organization to review these findings at:
Sacramento County District Attorney’s Stephon Clark Officer-Involved
Shooting Review Reports/Videos
Attorney General’s Stephon Clark Officer-Involved Shooting Review Press
Conference

Among the findings of the investigations, was the fact that less than 48 hours
prior to the events that took his life, Mr. Clark was involved in a domestic violence incident with the mother of his children rendering him suicidal. Helicopter footage and other physical evidence established that Mr. Clark committed several crimes including car burglary, vandalism and an attempted residential burglary. Mr. Clark was running from officers when he entered the backyard of his Grandmother and took a shooting stance and advanced on officers who believed he had a gun. These findings were supported by the helicopter video and body worn cameras. Officers were unaware that Mr. Clark was in the backyard of his family member. The autopsy of Mr. Clark revealed that he was under the influence of multiple drugs at the time of his death.

Laying out the facts surrounding Mr. Clark’s tragic final moments are not made in disrespect for his life. Rather, they are a testament to the tragedy of his circumstances and those faced by our communities.

By omitting these critical facts, you missed the opportunity to address issues faced by our communities including those surrounding drug addiction, mental health struggles, and domestic violence. You fail to address the preceding events that put the actions taken by Mr. Clark and the police into context. You fail to account for the dilemmas faced by officers with suicidal subjects and subjects acting under the influence of narcotics. And by failing to account for the full set of circumstances surrounding his death, you are undermining the very foundation of meaningful conversation around unlawful police overreach, brutality and wrongdoing or the meaningful reallocation of financial resources to community interventions for underserved populations such as those in mental health crisis. You are undermining our ability to speak candidly about the problems that ravage our communities that demand real solutions.

If any of us are going to do better, we have to face the realities of our collective situation. Recently, in speaking about the power of honesty and evidence, President Obama said, “Speak the truth. Speak it clearly. Speak it with compassion. Speak it with empathy for what folks are going through. The biggest mistake any [of] us can make in these situations is to misinform ….”

All of us can and should speak about the loss of Stephon Clark with empathy and compassion. But we must also speak about it truthfully. We would respectfully ask that you reexamine the factual findings of Stephon Clark’s death and produce a video that accurately depicts the conduct of all concerned in an officer involved shooting. Sadly, there are far too many to choose from that better illuminate just how far we must go in reaching the lofty ideals we cherish and venerate as a nation.

CDAA stands ready to assist in your worthy Inspire Change initiative. We’re ready to have open and candid conversations about police misconduct, racial injustice, poverty, drug addiction, mental health struggles, domestic violence and suicide prevention. We hope the NFL is, too.

Sincerely,
Vern Pierson
El Dorado County District Attorney
2020-21 CDAA President