Co-authors of AB 392, Weber and McCarty, will attend Thursday event
(SACRAMENTO, CA, 3/6/19) – The Sacramento Valley office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV) will participate Thursday, March 7, in a press conference and march in support of Assembly Bill 392.
The event, organized by CAIR-SV ally Sacramento Area Congregations Together (Sac ACT), will push for the passage of the use-of-force bill to save lives across the state.
AB 392 would limit the circumstances under which law enforcement officers can use deadly force.
READ: AB-392 Peace officers: deadly force
The bill’s co-authors, Assembly members Shirley Weber and Kevin McCarty, are expected to be in attendance Thursday.
WHAT: Press conference and march in support of AB 392
WHEN: 10 a.m. Thursday, March 7
WHERE: Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1300 N St., Sacramento, with a procession to the Capitol
LIVE-STREAM: https://www.facebook.com/cairsacramento/
MORE INFO: CAIR-SV Policy & Advocacy Coordinator Mahmoud Zahriya, mzahriya@cair.com, or Ryan McClinton, ryan@sacact.org
The event comes days after Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announced her decision not to charge the Sacramento police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Stephon Clark.
Clark, an African-American Muslim from Sacramento and father of two young boys, was shot and killed in his grandparents’ backyard by law enforcement March 18, 2018. Clark was unarmed.
READ: The Stephon Clark Shooting (Sac Bee)
Last Saturday, the day of the DA’s announcement, CAIR-SV, Sacramento Area Congregations Together and other allies held a press conference at City Hall, during which CAIR-SV Civil Rights Attorney Saad Sweilem said, in part:
“Stephon Clark was murdered twice. First, by the police officers who killed him, and then again today when our District Attorney assassinated his character during her press conference.”
WATCH: Post-Stephon Clark decision press conference
Prior to last Saturday’s press conference, Sweilem said in a statement:
“We are deeply disappointed by today’s decision by the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office. Stephon Clark and his family deserve justice, and that can only come from holding law enforcement accountable when unarmed African-American boys and men are killed by the police. We need expedited reforms when it comes to policy and training of law enforcement in order to save lives.”
In the days and weeks after the 2018 shooting, CAIR-SV called for accountability and hosted an emergency town hall meeting addressing systemic injustice.
READ: Hundreds search for solutions after Stephon Clark’s police shooting death (KCRA)
Hundreds attended the town hall, which was co-hosted by CAIR-SV, the Council of Sacramento Valley Islamic Organizations (COSVIO), Sacramento NAACP, Sacramento Area Congregations Together (Sac ACT), and a coalition of more than 10 mosques from across the greater Sacramento region. Nationally-known American Muslim scholar Sheikh Omar Suleiman from Texas led faith leaders from across the Sacramento region at the meeting.
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, capacitar a los musulmanes estadounidenses, y construir coaliciones que promuevan la justicia y la comprensión mutua.
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CONTACT: CAIR-SV Communications Manager Kalin Kipling-Mojaddedi, 916-441-6269, kkipling@cair.com or CAIR-SV Policy & Advocacy Coordinator Mahmoud Zahriya, 916-441-6269, mzahriya@cair.com
