Sacramento sheriff claims deputy didn’t see female activist he ran over at Stephon Clark protest
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Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones is standing by his deputy who was involved in a hit and run at a Stephon Clark protest.
Wanda Cleveland, a 61-year-old activist, was struck by a deputy’s car at a protest march for Stephon Clark, the Black man who was fatally shot by Sacramento police on March 18.
People at the scene who saw the hit and run take place said the deputy took off without stopping to see if Cleveland was OK.
“I heard wheels spin. And then I saw her body flung to the curb,” said Tifanei Ressl-Moyer, an onlooker. “The vehicle sped off and some protesters went after them.”
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During a press conference, Jones showed the dash cam video and claimed that the deputy probably did not know that he struck anyone.
“There is a high likelihood that he didn’t even know that he collided with that protester,” Jones said. However, at the time of the press conference he admits he had not talked to the deputy.
According to the Daily Mail, Cleveland’s attorney doubts that account.
“It is not possible that the officer did not see her,” said Cleveland’s attorney, Mark Reichel.
“It appears from all evidence that he hit her intentionally. He drove away from an injured woman intentionally.”
According to her attorney, Cleveland was crossing the street to the get the sidewalk when she was struck.
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The video taken by Guy Danilowitz of the National Lawyers Guild, shows the deputy accelerating his vehicle and Cleveland falling to the ground after being hit.
Others report that the deputy was screaming instead the vehicle for protestors to back away from his vehicle.
Cleveland an activist and grandmother of seven and the great-grandmother of two was taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries to her arm and back of the head and then released.
The incident is still under investigation by the California Highway Patrol officials.
“I’m on a mission now,” Cleveland said. “I will never allow a cop to touch me again.” Nearly an hour later, she was lying face up on a city street after being struck by the Sheriff’s SUV.
She said that once she was on the ground, she quickly rolled out of the way, fearing the vehicle would run her over again.
“I want to know what he was thinking,” Cleveland said from her hospital bed. “Is my life not that important?”
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