Stevante Clark confronts Sacramento cop who killed his brother Stephon. ‘I have to speak up’
Picture yourself heading to a Sacramento Kings playoff game, enjoying your leisure time with people close to you. Then you see the person who killed one of your family members.
That was the reality Wednesday evening for Stevante Clark when he saw Terence Mercadal, one of the two Sacramento police officers involved in the 2018 fatal shooting of Stephon Clark, Stevante’s brother.
Clark and members of his nonprofit, I am Sac Foundation, were headed to Game 5 of the Kings-Warriors playoff series when he spotted Mercadal on duty at the Downtown Commons Plaza near Golden 1 Center.
Clark remembered him by his badge number, 90, and the name on his vest read: T. Mercadal.
The tense moment was first reported by ABC 10. “It was probably the top 10, top five worst days of my life,” Clark told The Bee. “It broke my heart. It made me sick to my stomach, I wanted to throw up. It ruined my whole day.”
Mercadal and another officer named Jared Robinet were involved in Stephon Clark’s death. Although Stephon Clark was unarmed, both officers were cleared by the Sacramento Police Department in 2019. The department said the officers did not violate the department’s policy or training.
This decision never sat well with Stevante Clark. It still brings him pain to this day. “You have a murderer literally working the Kings game,” Clark said. “A guy who doesn’t know the difference between a gun and a cell phone, a guy who did something so bad where a law had been created.”
Mercadal, who was hired by the Sacramento Police Department in October 2015, is shown on the video telling Stevante Clark they could talk, but the conversation appears limited to words exchanged outside Golden 1.
Clark said Mercadal working the game was “unethical and disrespectful” to the life and legacy of his brother.
“To see the murderer of your brother in your grandmother’s backyard, who was never fired, charged, or convicted sitting there smiling comfortably with 9 or 10 different officers protecting him and surrounding him. No type of remorse, patronizing me, smirking in my face. It was disrespectful,” Clark said.
Clark, who recorded live from his social media account, confronted Mercadal before the Kings game on Wednesday. “This is the cop that killed my brother Stephon Clark. His name is Terrence Mercadal,” Stevante said during his Instagram live video recording.
Since his brother’s violent death five years ago, Stevante has dedicated his life to keeping Stephon’s name alive through community activism and mobility.
“I am my brother’s keeper,” Stevante Clark said. “My silence is compliance. I have to speak up and speak out about Stephon and make officers uncomfortable every chance I get because that’s how I honor my brother.”
Stevante Clark said that he is not anti-law enforcement, but he wants police officers held accountable when they misconduct themselves in their line of work.
Immediately after the 2018 shooting, Mercandal told police investigators he had been responding to a report of a suspect breaking car windows in Meadowview.
Mercandal said he chased Stephon Clark and eventually ended up in the backyard of his grandmother’s home. Clark was then killed by the officers.
Mercandel told investigators he had thought Stephon Clark had a gun, but it was determined he was only holding a cell phone.
