Lawsuit accuses Portland officer of Black man’s wrongful death
A federal lawsuit has been filed against the Portland officer accused of fatally shooting Immanueal “Manny” Clark two years ago. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court of Oregon and accuses Officer Christopher Sathoff of using excessive force, causing a wrongful death and negligence after the 30-year-old Black man was allegedly not provided medical care for 26 minutes after being shot in the back by a semiautomatic rifle.
“He’s gonna get justice for what happened to him because he shouldn’t be dead,” Rhoshelle Clark told KOIN 6 News on Saturday at a vigil held in her son’s honor. “My son was only 30 years old… They need to change something. My son, he didn’t deserve this,” she added. In September 2023, a grand jury determined that Sathoff’s use of deadly force was not criminal.
The tragedy unfolded as police were responding to a robbery call on Nov. 19 at a SuperDeluxe restaurant off Southeast Powell Boulevard around 12:30 a.m. A car matching the description of the alleged assailants, who were described as three to four white men, was reportedly observed driving recklessly nearby, which led police to trail their sedan and to make a high-risk stop when the car pulled into a church parking lot. Clark-Johnson was standing outside along the driver's side door when he began to run.
“Officer Sathoff saw Mr. Clark-Johnson as he ran from the vehicle and believed he was witnessing Mr. Clark-Johnson attempting to access a firearm and that he and his fellow law enforcement officers were about to be shot. In that moment, Officer Sathoff fired three rounds from his rifle. One round struck Mr. Clark-Johnson in the lower back,” read a memorandum when grand jury transcripts were released to the public. He died two days after being injured.
Investigators later determined that the young man was unarmed and that he and the others, a Black man, a white man and a white woman, were not the suspects involved in the robbery. Though authorities did not explain why the passengers fled, it was determined that the vehicle they were occupying was reported stolen and that Clark-Johnson had several active warrants for his arrest.
Clark hopes the federal lawsuit will effect changes in local laws.
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