I said I wasnt going to watch another video of a man being shot point blank by an officer, but I couldnt help myself.
There are no words. How many times are we going to see officers calmly disarm, arrest or take down everyone else but people of color. And just for the record, Louisiana is an open carry state. As Ive said, its not open carry for some of us.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/06/us/baton-rouge-shooting-alton-sterling/index.html
I just saw this on Facebook; words escape me. My stomach is nauseous.
Here is another take on the event that I think says so much…
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-don-sense-police-killing-alton-sterling-article-1.2700578
Just awful. And all the man was doing was selling CD’s in front of a convenience store. Reports did say that Alton had a gun but the gun was taken from his back pocket after he was shot. I am sure the police will contend he was reaching for it when they shot him. Doesn’t look that way from the video.
That is horrifyingly spot on, teriwtt.
I was awake when this first hit the news last night. Immediately there were things going around facebook about his criminal record. The victim’s criminal history was found and spread before we even knew the names of the cops or what happened.
Watching his son break down during the press conference today made me sob.
@partyof5 whenever I hear white men make the open carry arguments, I always want to ask what they’d do if a black man walked in with a gun on their hip or back. I’m sure they’d say they’d do nothing but we all know that reality is much different.
Last year (two years ago now? I can’t remember), a friend of my sister’s had the cops called on him because he was “acting suspicious.” What was he doing? He was walking while Black with his hands in his pocket (in a predominantly white area). The story made national news and even the cop knew it was a stupid call and you could tell he didn’t want to follow up on it.
NOT EXCUSING ANY SHOOTING, but did he have a permit to sell CD’s in front of the convenience store?
Likely he did not have a permit but he has apparently been selling cd’s there for quite some time (I read 6 years).
The owner of the store has said he had no issues with the guy.
Hopefully there will be a complete and honest investigation of this shooting. There are many unknowns and this video was a partial video of what took place.
It is a horrible video of a man losing his life.
http://www.wafb.com/story/32385961/graphic-new-cellphone-video-emerges-in-brpd-shooting?sf30410606=1
Whoever called the police said he had been threatened by Sterling with a gun. Still, this is telling:
After that, they removed Sterling’s gun from his back pocket. Not from his hands.
@romanigypsyeyes are you in Michigan? I do remember seeing a news story about a Black guy there walking down the street minding his own business.
@Pizzagirl what does that have ANYTHING to do with them pouncing on him then murdering him? Which by the way, the store owner had given him permission to be out there.
The guy was on his back, he was obese, how the hell could he have been reaching for his gun, with two officers on top of him. It really ticks me off that these officers will slam someone on the ground, put their knees on your chest, neck wherever, then say dont move. Its almost physically impossible not to flinch if someone is doing all of that to you.
The cops promptly confiscated the video from the store, per the owner, so yes the wall of silence has been erected.
I knew all about his background and record, before the names of the officers had been released. What the hell does him being behind on child support have to do with anything?
Im so angry.
@partyof5 yup. The man and the cop each filmed each other.
If the authorities want even a chance of being taken seriously, they need to release the store’s security footage and the body camera videos (even though they became “dislodged”) ASAP. It won’t happen and I’m not even sure it’ll help, but withholding it will undoubtedly cause more unrest.
I read that the claim is that the body cameras fell off during the altercation.
Partyof5, I SAID “not excusing any shooting.” I asked a question. That’s all.
I just saw it on the news. Like Shaun King said “I can’t unsee that now”. Truly sickening. Why, why, why? He just flat out shot him.
Do you think the person who called the police saying that Sterling was threatening him with a gun was telling the truth, or lying?
I am reminded of post where someone said that they trusted any cop’s ability to know when to shoot and when not to, but they couldn’t say the same of any average citizen.
Well, I suppose that’s another reason to be against open-carry of guns – if you are a person of color, it may be perceived as threatening (and worthy of involving the police) in a way that a white person open-carrying in Starbucks might not be.
@Pizzagirl - I was wondering about the caller too. Did they know each other and was there a grudge? Or was it case where someone felt threatened just because he had a visible gun. The store security video may be able to catch any altercation.
I just saw a different video, and it is zoomed in on the shooting. I cant unsee this now. It is one of the saddest things Ive ever seen. Those cops are so guilty. Yet, even with this, Im sure, if it makes it to a grand jury, they wont indict. Im still so angry. I cant help but think in this political climate, things are gonna get worse before they get better.
The story I read said that, according to the store owner, Sterling sold his CDs there for almost 6 years with permission from the owner (although without a permit, I guess) and the store owner never had a problem with him. Owner said Sterling never had a fight that he was aware of.
This is a problem that as a society we need to address. If so many locations are making open carry and concealed carry legal, the police can no longer shoot someone just because they are armed. The cry “he’s got a gun” can’t mean anything if having a gun is completely legal.
Even if racism were completely eliminated from the police, there would still be the problem of racism among those who call the police about a “suspicious person”. Since, even with well trained not-racist police, a police contact with the subject has a small chance of error (by either the police or the subject) that could produce a bad result, racism among those who call the police could result in differential rates of bad results by race.
Note also the incident where a hotel clerk saw a man in traditional Arab dress and thought “Islamic State”, eventually resulting in the police being called and a bad result.