Stephon Clark's Grandmother Says Police "Didn't Have To Kill Him Like That"

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The grandmother of Stephon Clark, the unarmed black man shot and killed by Sacramento police in his backyard, made an emotional appeal for justice Monday, saying there was no reason to use such deadly force.

"They didn't have to kill him like that. They didn't have to shoot him," Sequita Thompson said at a news conference where the family announced that they would be paying for an independent autopsy.

Several prominent civil rights organizations, including National Action Network, the Sacramento NAACP, and Black Lives Matter, also called for an independent investigation into Clark's death.

"I just want justice for my grandson, my daughter, my grandkids," Thompson said. "They're in so much pain. I want Justice for Stephon Clark!"

Thompson said she had been watching a video of her 7-year-old granddaughter dancing on March 18 when she heard the shots that killed her 22-year-old grandson, though she didn't know it at the time. She told reporters that she got down on the floor and crawled with her granddaughter through the house to ask her husband to call 911. He told her Clark had been at the window just a moment before the gunshots.

Officers had been searching the neighborhood for someone they said had been smashing windows.

Thompson has previously told the Sacramento Bee that her grandson and others would often knock on the back window o ask her or her husband to let them in through the garage door, which they use as the main entrance because of their poor mobility and a broken front doorbell.

In one bodycam video, an officer shouts, "Hey! Show me your hands! Stop! Stop!" as Clark runs toward the backyard.

"Show me your hands! Gun gun gun!" the officer shouts again, before firing several rounds.

Police, believing him to be armed, shot Clark 20 times. Turns out he was holding a cell phone. The two officers each fired 10 rounds, but it was unclear how many times he was hit, pending the results of the official autopsy, police said.

The fatal encounter has sparked widespread outrage and demonstrations in Sacramento for days, at one point delaying an NBA game.

Rev. Shane Harris of the National Action Network said that the group's founder, the Rev. Al Sharpton, would deliver the eulogy at Clark's funeral on Thursday.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, deputy press secretary Raj Shah said he was not aware of President Trump's position on the case. "I haven't asked him about that directly," Shah said. "Obviously, the president cares about any individual who would be harmed through no fault of their own."

LINK: Sacramento Police Shot And Killed An Unarmed Black Man In His Own Backyard

LINK: Hundreds Of Protesters Delayed An NBA Game After Sacramento Police Shot An Unarmed Black Man

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