ABOVE PHOTO: In this Tuesday, July 5, 2016 photo made from video, Alton Sterling is held by two Baton Rouge police officers, with one holding a hand gun, outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, La. Moments later, one of the officers shot and killed Sterling, a black man who had been selling CDs outside the store, while he was on the ground. (Arthur Reed via AP)
By Mike Kunzelman
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BATON ROUGE, La. –The U.S. Justice Department opened a federal civil rights investigation Wednesday into the videotaped police killing of a black man who was shot as officers wrestled with him on the pavement outside a convenience store.
The announcement came a day after the killing of 37-year-old Alton Sterling, who authorities say was confronted by police after an anonymous caller said he had threatened someone with a gun outside the store where he was selling homemade CDs.
In a cellphone video taken by a community activist, two officers had Sterling pinned to the ground, and gunfire erupted moments after someone yelled, “He’s got a gun! Gun!” Baton Rouge police have not said whether Sterling in fact had a gun.
“I have very serious concerns. The video is disturbing, to say the least,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said in announcing that the Justice Deparment’s Civil Rights Division would lead the investigation.
The shooting fueled anger and protests in Baton Rouge, with community leaders and Sterling’s family demanding a federal investigation and the firing of the police chief.
“Mr. Sterling was not reaching for a weapon. He looks like a man that was actually fighting for his life,” said state Rep. Edmond Jordan, an attorney for Sterling’s family.
Authorities have not released the race of the two officers, who have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard department procedure.
Quinyetta McMillon, the mother of Sterling’s teenage son, trembled as she read a statement outside City Hall, where a few dozen protesters and community leaders had gathered. Her son, Cameron, 15, broke down in tears and was led away as his mother spoke.
She described Sterling as “a man who simply tried to earn a living to take care of his children.
“The individuals involved in his murder took away a man with children who depended upon their daddy on a daily basis,” she said.
Jordan said police confiscated the store’s video surveillance system, but he said the store owner is confident the video shows the entire confrontation and shooting. He said the cellphone video that was posted online “certainly speaks for itself.”
“It’s a horrible thing. It’s a horrible thing to happen to him,” said Sterling’s aunt, Sandra Sterling. “He didn’t deserve that.”
The cellphone video prompted hundreds to protest Tuesday night.
In the video, which appears to be shot from inside a nearby parked car, one of two police officers outside the store can be seen tackling a man in a red shirt and wrestling him to the ground. Then the other officer helps hold the man down.
At one point someone can be heard saying, “He’s got a gun! Gun!” and then one officer on top of the man can be seen pulling his weapon from his holster.
After some shouting, what sounds like a gunshot can be heard and the camera pulls away. Then four more shots can be heard. At one point, a person in the vehicle asks, “They shot him?” as a woman can be heard crying.
At the Wednesday news conference, the head of the NAACP in Baton Rouge called for the police chief to be fired.
“He must step down. We cannot have anybody who allows this type of action to take place,” Michael McClanahan said.
State Rep. Denise Marcelle of Baton Rouge, who has been at the forefront of the protests, said the chief told her that body cameras fell off both officers during their “tussle” with Sterling. But Marcelle said she saw no evidence of that on the video.
By dawn Wednesday, protesters and friends had created a makeshift memorial to Sterling on the white folding tables and folding chair he had used to sell homemade music compilations on CDs.
Arthur Baines came by to pay his respects.
“He never bothered nobody. He was just trying to make an honest dollar,” Baines said.
Mufleh Alatiyat, a 25-year old employee of the store, described Sterling as generous and said he often gave away CDs or petty cash or bought food or drink for some people.
“He was a very nice guy,” he said. “He helped a lot of people.”
Leave a Comment