Sacramento protests over Stephon Clark leaves Kings-Hawks game nearly empty of fans

The Golden 1 Center in Sacramento went on lockdown prior to the Kings-Hawks game Thursday night due to hundreds of demonstrators protesting the police shooting of Stephon Clark. The protest originally started at city hall, then moved to the freeway during rush hour, backing up traffic in all directions. From there, the protest moved outside the Golden 1 Center prior to the game.

On Sunday, 22-year-old Stephon Clark was shot in the backyard of his grandparents’ home where he was staying. Police officers were said to be responding to a man breaking car windows. Clark was unarmed and what police thought was a gun was actually a cellphone.

The protest started around 6:30 p.m. local time, near the same time doors opened for the game, which forced the arena’s security to shut down all entrances.

The game tipped around 7:23 p.m., about 20 minutes later than planned, with no national anthem played and also no player intros. The Kings offered a courtesy non-alcoholic beverage and a snack for those who made it in the building.

The Kings released this statement following tip off:

“Tonight’s game began with a delay. Due to law enforcement being unable to ensure ticketed fans could safely enter the arena, the arena remains closed and we ask fans outside to travel home. We will issue further information soon regarding a refund.”

Kings owner Vivek Randivé also spoke after the game.

“On Sunday we had a horrific, horrific tragedy in our community. And on behalf of the players, executives, ownership, and the entire Kings family, I first of all wanted to express our deepest sympathies to the family. What happened was absolutely horrific and we are so very sorry for your loss.

I also wanted to say that we at the Kings recognize your ability to protest peacefully and we respect that. We here at the Kings recognize that we have a big platform. It’s a privilege but its also a responsibility. It’s a responsibility that we take very seriously. And we stand here before you all young, black, white, brown and we are all united in our commitment. We recognize that it’s not just business as usual and we are going to work really hard to bring everybody together to make the world a better place stating with our own community and we’re going to work really hard to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again.”

Ranadive consulted with several players and front office members before deciding on that course of action, he told USA Today’s Sam Amick:

“There’s obviously never a right decision in this type of situation, and on the one hand there’s been a life lost and you can’t just go about life in terms of it being business as usual, because it really isn’t,” Ranadive explained. “A young man has been killed under these circumstances. But then on the other hand, you think that maybe this is an opportunity to bring people together.”

Shooting guard Garrett Temple, who has organized several town halls to improve relations between law enforcement and the community, said he would have been protesting as well “if I didn’t have a job to do.”

Vince Carter told reporters that players on both teams were discussing the protests as the game was happening. Via USA Today:

“We had conversations throughout the game about it,” the 41-year-old Carter said. “And when I say we, I mean both teams, with each other. We have a game to play. We have a job to do, but (the protest) didn’t go unnoticed.

“That’s what it’s all about, is raising awareness, because we know it was going to be talked about and we know the game’s played but the conversation for both teams, it wasn’t just before the game. It was throughout the game. It was pretty neat.”