Stephon Clark protester hit by police SUV in Sacramento

A sheriff's SUV struck a demonstrator attending a vigil held Saturday night for a 22-year-old black man shot dead by police in Sacramento, Calif.

Two police vehicles were captured on video being slowly driven through the crowd. A man's voice is heard on loud speaker saying, "Stand back from the cars," and, "Back away from my vehicle." Shortly after that, one of the police vehicles then appears to briefly accelerate, striking a woman, who was holding a sign.

Local media identified the woman as 61-year-old Wanda Cleveland. They reported she was taken to a hospital with minor injuries and released early Sunday.

It was the latest in a series of demonstrations that have been held in the two weeks since Stephon Clark was shot dead by Sacramento police. Clark had been unarmed, and an autopsy privately performed by his family has shown that at least six of the shots fired by police struck him in the back.

The sheriff's office said in a statement early on Sunday that protesters were yelling and kicking the patrol car.

"A collision occurred involving the sheriff's patrol vehicle and a protester who was walking in the roadway," the statement said. "The patrol car was travelling at slow speeds."

The statement also said that the patrol car was damaged with dents and a shattered rear window from the protesters. The California Highway Patrol and the sheriff's office are investigating the incident.

Saturday's demonstration brought together a multi-racial crowd, many holding signs such as "Stop Police Rage" and "Power to the People." It was led by retired National Basketball Association player Matt Barnes, who grew up in the area and had two stints with the Sacramento Kings franchise.

The death of Clark, a young father of two, was the latest in a string of killings of black men by police that have triggered street protests and fuelled a renewed national debate about bias in the U.S. criminal justice system.

"We're here today to raise awareness, to come together peacefully and to have some accountability for the officers, not only in Sacramento but across the country, who have been doing this," Barnes told the Sacramento Bee.

Some of Clark's relatives attended the gathering in a city plaza. It followed a more heated protest overnight, during which demonstrators yelled expletives at police clad in riot gear.

Clark was shot on the night of March 18 by police responding to a report that someone was breaking windows. Police said the officers feared he had a gun, but that he was later found to have been holding a cellphone.

Police have said he was moving toward officers in a menacing way. The shooting was captured on a body cam video released by police.

On Friday, a lawyer for Clark's family released a private autopsy report showing most of the eight bullets that hit Clark struck him in the back, contradicting the police version of events.

Clark was shot six times in the back, once in the side and once in the leg, said the lawyer, Benjamin Crump.

"This independent autopsy affirms that Stephon was not a threat to police and was slain in another senseless police killing under increasingly questionable circumstances," Crump 
said.

The Sacramento Police Department said it would have no further comment until after the release of the findings of an official autopsy by the county coroner, and a review by state and local prosecutors.

In several days of sporadic protests, protesters have blocked traffic and twice delayed fans from reaching games played by the Kings at the Golden 1 Center.