Brother of unarmed man killed by police redirects protests

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The brother of an unarmed black man killed by police is helping diffuse tension in California’s capital city by asking protesters not to keep disrupting a downtown NBA arena.

Protesters heeded the calls by Stevante Clark on Thursday not to block fans from entering the Sacramento Kings arena as they had for two previous games. They instead protested for several hours on downtown streets nearby, blocking cars during rush hour.

Stevante Clark’s calls came just hours after an emotional display at the funeral for his 22-year-old brother, Stephon Clark. He was killed March 18 by police responding to a call of someone breaking car windows. The police say officers thought Stephon Clark had a gun, but he only had a cellphone.

The family’s attorney, Ben Crump, will on Friday release results of an independent autopsy.