California’s attorney general won’t charge two Sacramento police officers who shot and killed an unarmed black man last year.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s announcement Tuesday follows a prosecutor’s finding that the two officers broke no laws when they shot 22-year-old Stephon Clark.
Officers Terrance Mercadal and Jared Robinet say they mistakenly thought Clark was approaching them with a gun after he ran into his grandparents’ backyard as police investigated vandalism.
Investigators found only a cellphone.
Clark’s killing prompted intense protests last year in California’s capital city and demonstrations nationwide.
Clark’s family and black leaders urged Becerra to reach a different conclusion than the local prosecutor.
That decision this weekend renewed protests and has increased support for changing the state’s legal standard for when police can kill.
