Harris says Stephon Clark should not have lost his life

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris says a 22-year-old unarmed black man should not have been killed by Sacramento police last month.

The California Democrat said Thursday of Stephon Clark that “there is no question that that is a life that should not have been lost.” She says her heart breaks for what’s happened.

Harris spoke at a town hall meeting in Sacramento 2 ½ weeks after two officers chased Clark, who was suspected of breaking into cars, into his grandparents’ darkened backyard and opened fire. It touched off more than a week of tense protests in California’s capital.

Harris pointed to her efforts as California’s attorney general to train police officers about built-in biases that influence decisions to use force.