@SeanCunningham photo: Sacramento Kings attendee Sean Cunningham took this photo of the fans who were able to get into the building before Golden One Center was locked down due to safety concerns on Thursday night. Cunningham tweeted that the upper deck of the arena was empty

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO–The NBA Commissioner’s office decided with Sacramento Police to keep the doors at Golden One Center on lockdown meaning that anyone who needed to go to work would be excused for the night and anyone trying to leave the arena would not be permitted to leave the building because of strict security regarding the Black Lives Matter protest over the shooting of Stephen Clark, who was shot at least 20 times, after neighbors reported that he had been breaking windows into cars in the 29th Street neighborhood in Sacramento.

Protesters who arrived between 6:00 pm and 6:30 pm in the thousands with Kings fans waiting to get into the building were outside of the building as late as 8:30 pm on Thursday night. After the release of the video of Clark’s shooting by police that aired on Sacramento TV station KCRA TV 3 Black Lives Matters put their plans of a protest into action outside the most visible and high profile spot in Sacramento the Golden One Center one hour before a game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Kings.

Rather than cancel the game the NBA decided to play the game while the doors of the arena remained on lockdown. SWAT officers were on the Golden One Concourse as protesters and police exchanged words outside. The game is expected to end at 10 pm when fans who got there early before the lockdown will try to leave.

Jeremiah Salmonson is a Sacramento Kings reporter for http://www.sportsradioservice.com