About this episode
Recently, Sacramento police officers were investigating reports of a man who had been smashing car windows and was bounding fences in people’s backyards. In the body camera footage released soon after the OIS, one can hear an officer shouting, “Show me your hands! Stop!” The subject continued to flee. The officers continued their pursuit. Upon making contact with the individual, one cop shouted “Show me your hands! Gun! gun! gun!” Both officers opened fire. What Stephon Clark had in his hands was not a gun — it was a mobile phone — but in the dark during a rapidly unfolding, high-stress situation such as this, an objectively reasonable (Graham v. Connor) officer could easily have perceived a weapon. The family is calling for criminal prosecution of the officers. Protesters shut down an NBA game in Sacramento in response to the shooting. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss how the mainstream news outlets and social media — along with the efforts of organized groups — creates such an uproar after an officer-involved shooting.