Same result, different Black life. The two officers who fatally shot #AltonSterling will not be charged in his 2016 death.
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The decision to let the two officers go was made on Tuesday, according to Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry. “This decision was not taken lightly. We came to this conclusion after countless hours of reviewing the evidence,” Landry said, as he claimed their actions were “well-founded and reasonable.”
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Sterling was just 37 when he was murdered by two white officers, #BlaneSalamoni and #HowieLakeII in July 2016, outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Police responded to a homeless man’s call that a Black man had a gun. The homeless man told police he showed him a gun after begging Sterling for money. Video footage shows the officers pinning Sterling to the ground before shooting him, claiming they shot him because he was reaching for a gun.
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It’s been a 10-month process after federal prosecutors determined they wouldn’t be be filing civil rights charges against the officers in May 2017. According to CNN, these are the reasons the feds say both officers were not at fault: the two used several less-than-lethal techniques before using force; that Sterling struggled with the officers and failed to follow orders; and that video evidence couldn’t prove or disprove Salamoni’s assertion that Sterling was reaching for a gun.
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Prayers go out to the Sterling family!
