From the Sacramento Observer
by Genoa Barrow, OBSERVER Senior Staff Writer

Teens pumped their fits and yelled “Ain’t no power like the power of the youth, ‘cause the power of the youth don’t stop.” Adults joined hands and sang “Woke up this morning with my mind on justice,” remixing a popular song from the civil rights movement. A multi-generational crowd took part in a rally on Monday on the North Steps of the State Capitol aimed at encouraging lawmakers to pass a bill, AB 931, that would limit California law enforcement’s deadly use of force.

“People did stuff for us to be where we are right now, so it is our duty that we see that things are not right and some things still need to be changed,” shared Lupita Carballo, an organizer with the Southern California- based Youth Justice Coalition.

Ms. Carballo and others travelled by chartered buses to participate in the day of action which included urging Senator Anthony Portantino, Chair of the Appropriations Committee, to move the bill forward.

“We didn’t come here to play games, we came here to get policy moved,” shared Leo Mercer, an activist with Oakland’s Urban Peace Movement.

AB 931 would limit the use of deadly force by police officers to only after officers have deployed other non-lethal options to subdue individuals. Youth speakers included Kiana Lara, whose stepfather Francisco Villarreal was killed in August 2016 after being fired upon 17 times by five Bakersfield police officers. The incident left his children with dis- trust and disdain for law enforcement. “Who wouldn’t hate the people who killed your dad?” Ms. Lara asked. “If this bill was in place two years ago, then my stepdad wouldn’t have been killed. My siblings would still have their dad,” she continued.“This bill will ensure the police (are held accountable) when they use deadly force without attempting to de-escalate the situation. De- escalating the situation will make the officers go toward other options rather than pulling out their guns and killing.”

A featured activist, Aaron T, chronicled his experiences with law enforcement in Stockton and Chicago through spoken word. The first encounter coming when he was just 15 years old. “I thank God that all I got was a bruised cheek, because every day when I turn on the news someone else who looks like me ends up being taken out of the hood in a body bag,” he recited.

Several members of the clergy also attended the rally, lending their support to the cause. Among them was Pastor Chris Logan of The Movement United Methodist Church, a new church in the South area. “It’s becoming dangerous to be Black and male in America and particularly in Sacramento. Too many Californians ride off this California liberal label, but very few will actually do what needs to be done to make our lives safer, and the lives of our children safer,” Pastor Logan shared. “My faith teaches me that we are to work for the liberation of all people, so I’m here out of devotion to God, a devotion to my people so that we can all live, breathe and rise in Sacramento,” he continued.

Local community organizer Ryan McClinton of Sacramento Area Congregations Together was among those encouraging people to converge on the Capitol. “It’s far too long that we’re seeing law enforcement operate at a level of justice that the rest of us don’t see and don’t understand,” McClinton said. “No accountability means that this culture of killing our people will continue without any accountability at all.With an opportunity like AB 931 to bring about that accountability and push systemic change, not only here in California hopefully, but across the country. We have to go all the way in. “We have too many bodies being dropped to be trying the same old things in every state. Training is only one aspect of it, but you have to have some- thing that actually puts in language what is ‘too much’ and what should be the means to make sure that fatalities aren’t happening before somebody gets their just day in court. Law enforcement has a chance to have an investigation, to go see their families and whatnot. Our Black and brown brothers and sisters don’t,” McClinton continued.

Many of those speaking called out the names of Black and brown people who have been killed. There were several mentions of Stephon Clark, the 22-year-old father who was shot 20 times and killed by Sacramento police officers on March 18. It was after Clark’s death that California lawmakers authored AB 931 and SB 1421, which calls for extended public access to police officer’s records of excessive use of force and other behavioral conduct and disciplinary actions.

“Our communities, in the wake of Stephon Clark, kind of realized that if we’re not pushing for this change in language, it’s not going to happen,” McClinton said.

AB 931’s author, Assemblymember Shirley Weber, also spoke at the rally. “It is time finally to try to get us to change our ways, to change our practices and to bring justice and fairness to all Californians,” Dr.Weber said. “California has many wonderful things that it should be proud of, but it also has some things that we should be extremely embarrassed about. The fact that we have the largest number of police shootings and killings in the nation, that over half of those are unarmed individuals, that we still have an atmosphere of fear when it comes to African American and Latino males in their encounters with the police department. We can and we must do better,” she added.