Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II won’t be charged for incident that occured in July of 2016 that sparked unrest throughout Baton Rouge
Alton Sterling shooting: two police officers will not be charged with any crime
The two police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling in July 2016 in Baton Rouge will not be charged with any crime, the Louisiana attorney general announced on Tuesday. Prior to the decision, police were already preparing for city-wide protests in response.
“After a thorough and exhaustive review of the evidence ... the Louisiana Department of Justice cannot proceed with a prosecution of either officer,” said Jeff Landry at a morning press conference, after meeting members of Sterling’s family privately.
“This decision was not taken lightly, we came to this conclusion after countless hours of reviewing the evidence,” he said.
Sterling, a 37-year-old black father of five, was shot six times by officer Blane Salamoni on 5 July 2016. The confrontation between Sterling and Salamoni and officer Howie Lake II, who are both white, was captured on video and sparked unrest throughout the summer of 2016.
In a press conference immediately after Landry’s, Sterling’s family expressed deep frustration and called for voters to eject the attorney general and other elected officials.
“We don’t cry no more, that’s why you don’t see tears,” said Sandra Sterling, an aunt of Alton Sterling. “I’m going to get my justice from a higher power. Shame on you. You took an oath to protect and serve, not to protect and kill.”
The two officers were cleared by the federal Department of Justice in July last year but they remained legally in limbo, on paid leave for more than 20 months, as the state investigation continued. Sterling’s family filed a civil suit against the city of Baton Rouge, which is still pending.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Howie Lake and Blane Salamoni. Composite: Acadian Ambulance/Facebook & Parkview Baptist High School
According to investigation documents, Salamoni and Lake were dispatched in the early morning hours after an anonymous caller indicated that a man wearing a red shirt and selling CDs outside the Triple S Food Mart had threatened him with a gun.
Investigators said Salamoni drew his handgun and pointed it at Sterling’s head within 20 seconds of arriving on the scene. According to federal officials, as related by Sterling’s family and attorney, the officer said to Sterling something to the effect of “I’m going to kill you, bitch”.
According to the official account of the incident, the officers tried to tackle Sterling and deploy a stun gun. While in a scuffle on the ground, officers believed Sterling was reaching for a gun in his pocket. Salamoni drew his weapon and fired three shots to Sterling’s chest, then three more as he rolled over.
Store owner Abdullah Muhlafi, who considered Sterling a friend and allowed him to sell CDs out front, recorded the incident. Muhlafi told reporters that though Sterling was carrying a handgun in his pocket or waistband, he never had it in his hands.
The officers said they did not have control of Sterling’s right arm as they attempted to arrest him, and that they believed his hand was moving towards the weapon.
“Throughout the encounter the officers attempted several non-lethal techniques to gain control of Mr Sterling’s hands,” Landry said on Tuesday. “The officers’ concern that he was armed and dangerous was in fact subsequently verified and correct.”
After details of the incident emerged last summer, Baton Rouge mayor-president Sharon Weston Broome called for Salamoni’s resignation. Addressing reporters on Tuesday alongside police chief Murphy Paul, she did not back down from that demand.
Paul said he would conduct an administrative review within the next week, to determine if the officers violated policy and if they should be subject to discipline.
“We understand no matter what the decisions are that there are parts of our community that are hurting,” he said.
Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards said in a statement he supported the administrative review, adding: “We owe this final review to the Baton Rouge community and the Sterling family.”
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Attorneys for the Sterling family said they were not surprised by the outcome of the state investigation but were very disappointed. Lamenting “a very biased report”, they noted that several eyewitnesses – including Muhlafi – were not re-interviewed.
The Baton Rouge Advocate reported late on Monday that the Louisiana authorities had begun “protest operations”, mobilizing officers from elsewhere in the state. “Some troopers were being told to pack eight days worth of clothing,” the newspaper reported.
Sterling’s death was followed the next day by the death of Philando Castile, shot dead by police in Minnesota, prompting questions about how police perceive black Americans who own guns.
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(CNN) No charges will be filed against two Baton Rouge police officers in the 2016 shooting death of Alton Sterling, after an investigation determined that the shooting was justified, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said Tuesday.
"We have concluded that the officers in question acted as reasonable officers under existing law and were justified in their use of force," Landry's written report on the investigation reads.
But his decision is not the last chapter of the case, as the police department plans to hold hearings on whether to discipline the officers, and says it intends to release four videos that have yet to be made public.
Landry's announcement in Baton Rouge -- coming 10 months after federal prosecutors determined they wouldn't file civil rights charges against the officers -- was made moments after he told Sterling's relatives of the decision.
JUST WATCHED Lawmaker wants Sterling's killer prosecuted Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Lawmaker wants Sterling's killer prosecuted 01:01
Members of Sterling's family were visibly upset. Sterling's aunt Veda Washington wiped tears as she left his office.
"They're not going to bring charges on anybody. Why would they do that? This is white America," Washington said.
Outrage over Sterling's death led to renewed Black Lives Matter protests across the nation.
Landry said his conclusion drew on the federal investigation -- including two use-of-force experts who told the Justice Department that the shooting was reasonable -- as well as his department's own interviews of eyewitnesses.
The officers, he said, tried to make a lawful arrest, tried Tasering and other nonlethal techniques to subdue Sterling when he didn't comply with commands, and made "well-founded and reasonable" attempts to control Sterling's hands until the moment one officer claims he saw Sterling try to reach a gun.
Attorneys for Sterling's family slammed what they called a biased decision -- and urged the public to hold Landry accountable by voting him out of office.
"It takes courage ... to fight for justice; we didn't see that in this situation," family attorney Chris Stewart said.
"But that's fine, because ... we know what the repercussion is: Getting you out of office."
More videos, and a decision on the officers' future, are coming
Repercussions still could come for Officers Blane Salamoni, who shot Sterling, and Officer Howie Lake II. Sterling's five children filed a wrongful death lawsuit last summer.
JUST WATCHED Witness: Sterling's gun was not visible at any point Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Witness: Sterling's gun was not visible at any point 01:59
And the Baton Rouge Police Department will hold disciplinary hearings by Friday to determine whether the officers' behavior was in line with department policy, Chief Murphy Paul said.
After the hearings, Paul said, police will release four additional videos: two body camera recordings; one from a store surveillance camera; and one from the dashboard camera in a patrol car.
The woman who raised Sterling, Sandra Sterling, predicted that the videos will spark more public outrage.
"When you see those other ... videos of Blane Salamoni killing Alton Sterling, you'll cry again," Sandra Sterling said. "And when you cry again, you'll be telling the Sterling family, 'I'm sorry.'"
Sterling was shot on the ground
Sterling was known as the "CD man," who sold CDs and DVDs outside the convenience store where he was shot, according to local media.
The killing gripped the nation in part because two publicly released bystander videos , each less than a minute long, captured Sterling's part of the struggle with the two officers.
The officers were responding to a call about a man with a gun. The call was from a homeless man who said that after he approached Sterling for money, Sterling showed him the weapon.
According to the state report released Tuesday, Sterling refused to heed the officers' commands to put his hands on the hood of a car, and each officer reached for and tried to control Sterling's arms.
JUST WATCHED Witness: Sterling's gun was not visible at any point Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Witness: Sterling's gun was not visible at any point 01:59
When Sterling spun around and pulled his right arm away from Salamoni, Salamoni drew his gun and said, "Don't f****** move, or I'll shoot you in your f****** head," the report says.
The Justice Department last spring said that Salamoni at this point put a gun to Sterling's head.
Sterling then complied, but eventually resisted Lake's attempts to gain control of his hands, Landry's report reads.
Lake twice used a Taser on Sterling, with little to no effect. Salamoni eventually holstered his gun, tackled Sterling to the ground and tried to control Sterling's right arm, and Lake knelt and tried to control Sterling's left arm, the state report says.
"If you move, I swear to God," Salamoni tells Sterling, according to the report.
At one point, the cell phone videos show, someone shouts, "He's got a gun!" In one video, an officer draws something from his waistband and points it at Sterling.
Landry wrote at this moment Sterling was positioned in way that concealed his right front pocket. The officers continue to try to control his hands.
"He's going for the gun," Salamoni yells, according to the state report.
The state report says Salamoni first shot Sterling three times in the chest, and then rolled off him.
Sterling sits up. As Lake yelled at Sterling to get on the ground, Sterling rolled away from Salamoni, who fired three more shots, this time into Sterling's back. Sterling's hands and right side are concealed from Salamoni's view, Landry said.
Lake removed a loaded .38-caliber handgun from Sterling's right front pocket, the report says.
An autopsy report done by the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's office said none of the six bullets exited Sterling's body. A pathologist also found a Taser probe embedded in the back of his shorts, says the report, which was released Tuesday.
Attorney general: Drugs may have contributed
The feds cited use-of-force experts who determined the officers' actions were reasonable under the circumstances -- including that the two used several less-than-lethal techniques before using force, and that Sterling struggled with the officers and failed to follow orders.
The Justice Department also said that evidence couldn't prove or disprove Salamoni's assertion that Sterling was reaching for a gun.
JUST WATCHED Alton Sterling's son speaks out Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Alton Sterling's son speaks out 02:08
Landry said that Sterling had illicit drugs in his system.
"Considering this, it is reasonable that Mr. Sterling was under the influence, and that contributed to his noncompliance," Landry said.
The autopsy indicated Sterling had cocaine, methamphetamine, hydrocodone, a marijuana ingredient, caffeine, nicotine and alcohol in his blood.
Stewart, the Sterling family attorney, said that every action was "initiated by the officers."
He also said Salamoni's threat to shoot Sterling in the head was illegal.
"That is not the behavior that any officer should have," Stewart said. "In our opinion, that is criminal."
Image copyright Reuters
Two white officers who shot and killed a Louisiana black man in 2016 will not face criminal charges, officials say.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said the officers acted reasonably under "existing law and were justified in their use of force".
Video footage appearing to show the officers holding down Alton Sterling, 37, as one fired his gun, sparked days of protests in Baton Rouge.
The US Department of Justice came to a similar conclusion last May.
Federal officials said there was "insufficient evidence" to show Alton Sterling's civil rights had been violated.
Mr Landry said on Tuesday police would still consider other disciplinary actions against the two officers, Howie Lake and Blane Salamoni, for Anton Sterling's death.
"I know the Sterling family is hurting. I know they may not agree with this decision," Mr Landry said at a news conference after meeting Anton Sterling's family.
He also said new videos would be released that have yet to be made public.
"They took a human away. They took a father away," Quintela McMillan, the mother of Anton Sterling's oldest son, told reporters.
"When I see the video, I see the dad of my son killed in cold blood."
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Pinned down and shot in Louisiana
The two officers were responding to reports of a man threatening people with a gun outside a grocery shop on 5 July 2016.
They at first used non-lethal methods to subdue Anton Sterling, including a stun gun, police said. He was then shot dead as he tried to pull a loaded gun from his pocket, according to police.
Officer Salamoni shot him, while Officer Lake helped Officer Salamoni pin him down, but did not fire his weapon, authorities say.
The incident was caught on mobile phone footage and quickly spread online.
Toxicology and urine test results released on Tuesday showed Anton Sterling tested positive for cocaine, methamphetamine, opioids and other drugs at the time of his death, according to a report released by Mr Landry's office.
The Louisiana prosecutor said the results could indicate that "Sterling was under the influence and that contributed to his noncompliance".
The report also revealed Anton Sterling had been shot six times, including three times in the chest.
After the shooting, officers removed a handgun from his pocket, according to Mr Landry's office.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The story behind this photo at Baton Rouge protests
Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul said he planned to release footage from the officers' body cameras as well as from store surveillance cameras, which has not been made public.
He also said he wants to complete the disciplinary process for the two men, who have been on paid leave since the 2016 shooting.
At the time of Anton Sterling's death, a series of fatal police shootings involving African-Americans had sparked a debate about police use of force.
There were nearly 200 arrests during protests over Anton Sterling's death, which preceded a turbulent couple of weeks in US race relations.
Tuesday's announcement came the same day California's attorney general said his office would investigate the fatal shooting of an unarmed man whose phone was apparently mistaken by officers for a gun.
Stephon Clark was shot dead in his grandmother's backyard during a police chase in Sacramento earlier this month. The latest police shooting sparked local protests, blocking a motorway and shutting down a basketball arena.
