For the second time in a week, the Sacramento Kings locked the doors early at Golden 1 Center due to protests over the fatal police shooting of Stephon Clark.
The Kings hosted the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night, and hundreds of demonstrators blocked the arena entrance. The Golden 1 Center doors were eventually locked, leaving roughly 4,000 people in attendance for the game, and the tip-off was a few minutes behind schedule, according to ESPN.
WATCH: Protesters surround Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, for a second time, following officer-involved shooting of Stephon Clark. pic.twitter.com/9i5Fii4I1K
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 28, 2018
Here we go again. Golden 1 Center has closed off the entrances due to #StephonClark protests. Kings and Mavericks tip at 7pm pic.twitter.com/5O6nKbubhZ
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) March 28, 2018
Current stands at @Golden1Center @SacramentoKings . Arena doors CLOSED currently. pic.twitter.com/KzgZOT5bgb
— Jodi Bacon (@jodibaconbits) March 28, 2018
The Kings issued a statement on Twitter which included information on refunds.
Public safety measures have been enacted and arena entrances remain closed.
We kindly ask all guests to travel home safely at this time.
Ticket holders unable to access tonight’s game will receive refund information from the team soon.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) March 28, 2018
This comes five days after demonstrators caused the Kings to lock the Golden 1 Center doors for their game against the Atlanta Hawks. The Kings-Hawks game was delayed for about 20 minutes and just over 2,000 made it into the arena before the doors were locked. And after that game, Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé addressed the crowd with a powerful speech about the protests and shooting. Former Kings star — and current New Orleans Pelicans center — DeMarcus Cousins has also offered to pay for Clark’s funeral.
Clark was shot and killed by Sacramento police on March 18, after the police mistook Clark’s cell phone for a handgun while he was standing in his grandmother’s backyard.