Another Police Shooting of a Black Man

[CarolKing]

i saw a disturbing video today of a black man being shot and killed by a Lousiana police officer. The video looked pretty cut and dry. It looked like a murder. A bystander took the video then he hid it so it wouldn't be confiscated.

Feds Open Civil Rights Investigation in Louisiana Shooting

• By MIKE KUNZELMAN AND MELINDA DESLATTE, ASSOCIATED PRESS

BATON ROUGE, La. — Jul 6, 2016, 10:14 PM E
In a swift move by authorities to keep tensions from boiling over, the U.S. Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation Wednesday into the video-recorded killing of a black man who was shot as he scuffled with two white police officers on the pavement outside a convenience store.

A law enforcement official said a gun was taken from 37-year-old Alton Sterling after he was killed early Tuesday in the parking lot where he regularly sold homemade music CDs from a folding table. The official was not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

It was not clear from the murky cellphone footage whether Sterling had the gun in his hand or was reaching for it when he was shot. A witness said he saw police pull a gun from Sterling's pocket after the shooting.

The shooting in the Louisiana capital — and shocking videos that found their way all over the internet — set off angry protests in the city's black community and brought calls for an outside investigation. It came at a time when law enforcement officers across the country are under close scrutiny over what some see as indiscriminate use of deadly force against blacks.

Moving quickly just one day after the shooting, Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards asked the Justice Department to take the lead in the investigation.

 

[Maitri]

[Quoting the article CarolKing posted, NOT CarolKing...]

In a swift move by authorities to keep tensions from boiling over,

I am so looking forward to the day when our so-called authorities move swiftly out of open-hearted compassionate desire to do the right thing rather than pragmatic fear.

Edit: Thanks for posting. I love that we have such a passionate sociologist here on FC!

 

[waxdab23]

They had the man pinned down by TWO cops. Yes, he did have a gun but this was no standoff threatening the cops' safety. They had him under control, then....cold blooded murder.

 

[Stevenski]

Alton Stirling had a rap sheet with numerous assault & weapons offenses, he was also a sex offender. None of that changes the fact the he was murdered.

 

[waxdab23]

Alton Stirling had a rap sheet with numerous assault & weapons offenses, he was also a sex offender. None of that changes the fact the he was murdered.

His rap sheet is disgusting filthy indeed.

 

[Derrrpp]

It happened again in my state as well...

Dayton 'shocked and horrified' by police shooting in Falcon Heights, caught on video


By STAR TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
July 07, 2016 - 11:07 AM

A black St. Paul man was fatally shot Wednesday night by police in Falcon Heights, apparently after he and his girlfriend were pulled over for a broken taillight.

The girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, captured the immediate aftermath on a video taken with her phone that was widely shared on Facebook.

Reynolds started the live-stream video with the man, Philando Castile, in the driver’s seat slumped next to her, his white T-shirt soaked with blood on the left side. In the video, taken with her phone, she says they were pulled over at Larpenteur Avenue and Fry Street for a broken taillight.

The “police shot him for no apparent reason, no reason at all,” she says in the video.

Response was swift Thursday morning. Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said in a release that he had requested the U.S. Department of Justice “begin an immediate independent federal investigation into this matter.” State officials began their own investigation overnight, he added, and he will do “everything in my power to help protect the integrity of that investigation, to ensure a proper and just outcome for all involved.”

U.S. Sen Al Franken, also called for a federal investigation. In a statement Thursday morning, he said he was “horrified and heartbroken” by Castile’s death. “I am horrified that we are forced to confront yet another death of a young African-American man at the hands of law enforcement. And I am heartbroken for Philando’s family and loved ones, whose son, brother, boyfriend, and nephew was taken from them last night.”

Outside the governor’s residence Thursday morning, surrounded by about 100 protesters demanding “Justice for Philando,” Reynolds said she and Castile were coming from the grocery store when police stopped them for a broken taillight. She said that the light wasn’t broken.

Reynolds said she and Castile had just been at a shop to get his hair done for his birthday. He would have turned 33 years old on July 16.

Outside the governor’s residence, protesters chanted “No justice. No peace. Prosecute the police.” The protests had begun hours after the shooting and continued into the night. They demand Dayton speak to them, which he did Thursday around 10 a.m.

“My deepest condolences go out to the family and friends,” Dayton said. “On behalf of all decent minded Minnesotans, we are shocked and horrified by what occurred last night,” he said. “This kind of behavior is unacceptable. It is not the norm in Minnesota. I promise … to see that this matter is brought to justice and all avenues are pursued and do a complete investigation. Justice will be served in Minnesota.”

Reynolds said Thursday that police “treated me like a criminal … like it was my fault.” She said officers didn’t even check Castile for a pulse but comforted the crying officer who fired the shots.

She turned to Dayton and said, “We need justice.”

A vigil for Castile being planned for 5:30 p.m. today at J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School, where he worked and was well-respected. He was a cafeteria supervisor there and had worked St. Paul Public Schools since 2002.

On the video the girlfriend said the officer “asked him for license and registration. He told him that it was in his wallet, but he had a pistol on him because he’s licensed to carry. The officer said don’t move. As he was putting his hands back up, the officer shot him in the arm four or five times.”

The video shows a uniformed police officer holding a pistol on the couple from outside the car. The officer can be heard to say, “I told him not to reach for it. I told him to get his hand out.” A child was also in the car.

(much more here)