Sacramento’s sheriff has faulted “paid protesters” after one of his deputies hit a woman with his car during a demonstration against the death of Stephon Clark.
Video of a sheriff’s vehicle colliding with a protester emerged after a weekend demonstration, amplifying public anger in a community already roiled by protests after police officers shot and killed Mr Clark in his grandparents’ backyard last month.
The Sacramento branch of Black Lives matter said the footage showed law enforcement officers “do not value our lives” and “can not be trusted”.
Seeking to head off the mounting backlash, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones held a press conference in which he played in-car video from the two vehicles involved. While he noted that protests on Saturday was largely peaceful, he warned of outside agitators who “infiltrate” mass gatherings “for their own purposes”.
“Unfortunately in many protests that have developed of this scope there are professional protesters and professional instigators”, Mr Jones said, later saying “there are paid protesters and paid folks to instigate”.
The sheriff said he did not know if the woman struck by a deputy’s vehicle had been paid to be there. His department said she sustained “minor injuries”.
In the videos, deputies whom Mr Jones said were returning from an unrelated call slow and then come to a stop as they approach throngs of protesters lofting signs and holding up their hands. After the lead vehicle pulls away, the trailing vehicle abruptly accelerates as a person walks in front, knocking her to the ground.
Protesters who surrounded the vehicles were acting “aggressively” and their behaviour “escalates until they are repeatedly kicking and banging the car”, Mr Jones said, noting that the vehicle was dented and had its back windshield shattered.
While he stressed that he had not interviewed the driver, Mr Jones said there was a “high likelihood” that the deputy did not realise he had hit a protester before driving away.
“It could have been he did not feel safe to get out of the vehicle or stop the vehicle”, Mr Jones said.
The protester, identified by the Sacramento Bee as Wanda Cleveland, told the paper the sheriff’s department had shown “disregard for human life”.
“It was a hit-and-run”, Ms Cleveland said. “If I did that I’d be charged”.
The California Highway Patrol is conducting a review of the collision, and Mr Jones said Sacramento County’s inspector general will independently monitor an internal sheriff’s investigation.
