Alton Sterling was standing outside of the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge, LA on Tuesday selling cd’s when a call was placed to police. The caller stated that there was a black man in a red shirt selling cd’s and had reportedly threatened him with a gun. A video captured on a cellphone shows the murder of another black man, Alton Sterling.
In the video, upon arrival two officers approach Sterling telling him to, ” Get on the ground, get on the ground.” When Sterling gets on the ground one of the officers pulls out his gun and places it on the back of what appears to be Sterling’s head or neck. One of the officers shouts:,” He’s got a gun, gun!” As shouting is heard on the video so are two pops, followed by at least another two pops.
As Sterling lay shot to death you can hear people saying, ” Oh My God” and ” They killed the boy”. Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old father of five, died outside of the convenience store from multiple gunshot wounds to his neck and back.
The city of Baton Rouge is outraged and his death has sparkeds protest outside of the convenience store. His sister, Mignon Chambers, is calling for something to be done. ” There’s no reason for you to handle him the way that you did, it wasn’t right.”
Political figures who represent the city and district have called the incident murder and forced them to call on the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation.
Celebrities weighed in on Twitter about the tragic incident as well.
May his name and his brutal last breath shake up and transform systems: #AltonSterling.
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) July 6, 2016
The shooting of #AltonSterling in #BatonRouge is a legal lynching. Justice must prevail. #Outraged
— Rev Jesse Jackson Sr (@RevJJackson) July 6, 2016
What happens next? The two officers have been placed on administrative leave as the investigation continues. Alton Sterling was a father, a brother, a son, and most importantly a human being deserving of more respect than to be gunned down.
UPDATE: According to the Associated Press, the Department of Justice will open a civil rights investigation into Sterling’s death. Louisiana’s governor, John Bel Edwards commented on the matter, calling the video that shows Sterling being shot “disturbing to say the least.”
