Two California Police Officers Won't Be Charged In Shooting Death Of Black Man, Gov. Newsom Calls For Reform

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has called for "systemic reforms" to be instituted in the state's judicial system after two police officers were not charged for allegedly shooting and killing Stephon Clark, a black man, in his grandmother's home last year.

"This must be a time for change," Newsom said in a written statement.

He asked for efforts to be made between state residents and law enforcement officials to build trust between both communities, while acknowledging the realities that members of minority groups face every day.

"We need to acknowledge the hard truth – our criminal justice system treats young black and Latino men and women differently than their white counterparts. That must change," Newsom said.

Newsom's statement was made in response to the announcement Saturday by District Attorney Anne-Marie Schubert that charges would not be pursued against the officers.

"The law requires that we judge the reasonableness of an officer's actions based upon the circumstances confronting them at that moment of time," Schubert said at a press conference.

Clark was 22 years old when he was shot on March 18, 2018, in his grandmother's backyard by officers Jared Robinet and Terrence Mercadal. A police helicopter purportedly witnessed him breaking windows in the Sacramento neighborhood of Meadowview.

The officers fired 20 rounds at Clark, who was unarmed.

Police believed Clark to be carrying a gun and stated that he was in a shooting stance as officers approached him.

Robinet and Mercadal then reacted to a flash of light, which one of them believed was a muzzle of a gun. The other believed it to be light reflecting off of a gun.

Footage from a police body cam confirmed the appearance of a light flash.

It was later confirmed that Clark was carrying a cellphone.

A county autopsy report concurred that Clark was shot seven times, including three shots to the right side of his back.

Shortly after his death, members of the Black Lives Matter movement called upon D.A. Schubert to conduct "a fair and transparent investigation" of the events surrounding Clark's death, citing the shooting as "another glaring example of the dehumanization of Black lives by law enforcement; a state bodyguard intended to protect and serve."

The district attorney insisted that the shooting was done lawfully.

"We know [Clark] fled from the officers after being told to stop, we know that he continued into the backyard, and we know that when he continued into the backyard, he rounded that corner, and he went to the end of that yard and he turned around," Schubert said on Saturday.

"He didn't continue to flee. He turned around and he was in a shooting stance with his arms extended."

Schubert also acknowledged the pain and frustration surrounding the decision, calling the incident a "tragedy."

"I want people to understand, the fact that no criminal charges will be filed in this case does not diminish in any way the tragedy, the anger, the frustration that we've heard since the time of his death," she said. "We cannot ignore that."