RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. — Community activist Stevante Clark is calling for a Rancho Cordova officer caught on camera punching a 14-year-old boy to not only be fired but to also face criminal charges over the incident.
"The way he treated that little boy as if he didn't even care if the camera was there. He had no care at all that he was being recorded," said Clark. "Uncalled for. Unnecessary. Excessive Force. I was really hurt. I was devastated. My heart hurts for the family. My heart hurts for that young man who was traumatized."
Clark, who lost his brother Stephon to police violence, says it speaks to a larger societal problem echoed in a Sacramento Bee opinion piece by Marcos Bretón entitled "Two cop confrontations, one with white protesters, one with a black kid. Guess who got beat up?"
"It was such an egregious example of excessive force considering what the lad had done and his age," said Bretón.
Deputies say the violent encounter started over tobacco.
"And then just a few days later we had this very vehement protest on the capitol steps, and I didn't see a single person of color but it was mostly white folks who were protesting," said Bretón. "They got right in the faces of the officers. They were screaming at them. They were calling them traitors. They were showing complete disrespect, and not one of them got a beat down. The message is that implicit bias in policing is real."
The same day the incident happened, Rancho Cordova welcomed new chief Kate Adams, who released a video message.
"I'm called to ensure the efficacy of the investigation, to mend relationships that have been strained, and to forge a path forward that is filled with compassion and understanding," said Adams.
Several doctors and nurses delivered an open letter to the Rancho Cordova police chief calling for the firing of the deputy on Tuesday.
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