Roughly a week after Tuscaloosa police shot and killed a 24-year-old Black man in the back seat of a car pulled over for a traffic stop, his family and their attorneys are calling for accountability.
Tristan Clark, a Tuscaloosa resident, was shot and killed by a Tuscaloosa narcotics officer on Dec. 20.
Police statements so far have said that Clark had outstanding warrants and pulled out his gun after an officer told him not to. But Birmingham attorney Reginald McDaniel, who is representing Clark’s family, disputed these claims, saying that two eyewitnesses told his legal team that Clark hadn’t reached for a gun and his hands were raised when the officer shot him. He didn’t name the eyewitnesses, but said they were both inside the car with Clark.
During a press conference near Tuscaloosa on Thursday, Alabama Rep. Juandalynn Givan, who is also an attorney representing the family, repeated the phrase, “Say his name” several times, as roughly a dozen of Clark’s members and friends repeated back, “Tristan Clark.” She named Stephen Perkins in Decatur and Jawan Dallas in Mobile, in addition to George Floyd and a slew of other Black men and women across the country who have been killed by police.
“Tristan Clark was riding in a vehicle while Black,” Givan said. “Hands up, don’t shoot. There’s no justification.”
A spokesperson for the Tuscaloosa Police Department did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
Now, Clark’s family and legal team are calling for accountability. McDaniel said his legal team has sent letters to city and county officials to preserve all evidence and urged transparency, and they’re calling on the Tuscaloosa Police Department to release any body camera footage as well as the names of the officers who were involved. They’re also calling for the officers to be arrested and fired.
“When the car was stopped, he was not committing any type of criminal offense,” McDaniel said, denying that there were active warrants out for Clark. “Somebody’s not telling the truth.”
Clark’s mother, Jacoya Clark, said that she never imagined that she would be speaking about her son in the context of police brutality.
“These are stories that I read about, I sit down and talk to my children about,” she said, in between sobs. “I stand here today asking everybody, stand up and help me fight for justice for my son.”
On the afternoon of Dec. 20, Tuscaloosa narcotics officers stopped the vehicle that Clark was riding in on 37th Street East near the intersection of James I Harrison Jr. Parkway.
Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit is leading the investigation, McDaniel said. Last week, Capt. Jack Kennedy said that one of the officers had ordered Clark to get out of the vehicle and not to touch a gun that was in his waistband. Kennedy also said that an officer got into a “physical altercation” with Clark, who got ahold of the gun and refused to drop it.
One officer shot Clark several times, and he was pronounced dead on the scene. Givan said that witnesses told her it was at least four gunshots.
The next day, the police department released Clark’s name. With the investigation ongoing, two officers are on leave, but their names have not been released.
Clark’s mother, two sisters, girlfriend, other relatives and family friends described him as a “gentle giant” who was turning his life around before he died and recently committed to his faith at Greater Faith Church in Moundville, where the press conference was held.
One of his sisters, Megan Clark, said the most painful part of her brother’s death was that his three young children would have to grow up without him.
“I’ll never get to hug him again. I’ll never get to wish him another happy birthday,” she said. “I have so many memories of him, and I’m going to make sure his kids know who he is, through me.”
Jakyyah Dixon, Clark’s girlfriend, recalled going to church with him every Sunday and how he would make sure to tell everyone in the house good morning when he woke up.
Clark’s family is raising money through a GoFundMe page to cover the costs of his burial, a family friend said.
