Washington, DC – Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, released the following statement in response to the recent autopsy report on Stephon Clark, a father of two and an African-American Muslim who was shot repeatedly by police without cause while in his family’s backyard:

“An unarmed father of two young children was shot eight times in his family’s backyard. According to a recent autopsy report, the bullets hit him mostly in his back and his death ‘was not instantaneous.’  The perpetrators of this heinous act were the Sacramento police who were sworn to protect and serve his community.

According to the Washington Post’s latest count, since 2015, the Sacramento Police have shot and killed six people, five of whom are African Americans like Mr. Clark. Nationwide, police have shot and killed hundreds of innocent people  just this year.

Far too often, the perpetrators of these shootings are not held accountable. This pattern cannot stand in Sacramento, and it cannot stand across the nation.

Contrary to White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders recent dismissal of these shootings as a  ‘local matter,’ the troubling pattern of law enforcement’s excessive use of force against communities of color, and African-Americans in particular, is a national crisis that demands a robust and meaningful response from all levels of government.

Muslim Advocates mourns with the Clark family and the people of Sacramento, and we echo their calls for full accountability.”

Muslim Advocates is a national legal advocacy and educational organization that works on the frontlines of civil rights to guarantee freedom and justice for Americans of all faiths.

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