Alton Sterling: Family's fury as white police officers who shot black man dead will not face charges

Shot dead: Alton Sterling was killed by police
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David Gardner3 May 2017

The family of a black man shot dead by two white police officers in Louisiana have reacted angrily to news they will not face charges raising the prospect of more protests.

Father-of-five Alton Sterling, 27, was killed outside a shop in Baton Rogue on July 5 in a shooting captured by witnesses on their mobile phones.

The videos inflamed racial tensions in the city which has a troubled history of strained relations between police and black residents and sparked a series of demonstrations across the US.

Last night, Baton Rouge police were bracing themselves for more violent protests after it was revealed that the US Department of Justice has decided not to charge the officers.

The decision, first reported by the Washington Post, was condemned by Mr Sterling’s “heartbroken” family.

Sterling's shooting sparked a wave of demonstrations across the US (Jonathan Bachman/Reuters via World Press Photo)
Jonathan Bachman/Reuters via World Press Photo

“It’s been almost a year and we’re still suffering like it happened yesterday,” said the shooting victim’s aunt, Veda Sterling. “We need closure. We need a conviction. We need justice,” she added.

Mrs Sterling joined dozens of people who gathered for a vigil last night outside the grocery store where her nephew had been selling home-made CDs before he was shot. “No justice, no peace,” she chanted along with the crowd.

The family was furious that news of the decision broke in the media before they were officially informed by the authorities.

A police report claimed Mr Sterling was initially jolted with a stun gun after he refused to obey the officers’ commands to put his hands on the bonnet of a car.

The report also said the officers saw the butt of a gun in one of Mr Sterling’s trouser pockets and saw him try to reach for it before he was shot.

Two phone videos posted online shortly after the incident show Mr Sterling scuffling with the officers after they responded to a complaint that he had threatened somebody with a gun outside the shop.

The two officers - Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake - had Mr Sterling pinned on his back when gunfire erupted, moments after someone shouted: “He’s got a gun!”

After the gunshots, the cameras capture Mr Sterling with a large bloodstain on his chest as an officer lying on the pavement aims his weapon at him.

Baton Rouge’s police chief has said Mr Sterling was armed but the shop’s owner said he was not holding a gun during the shooting and he saw officers remove one from his pocket afterwards.

The decision to take no action in the Baton Rouge shooting came on the same day Dallas police fired an officer who shot and killed a black 15-year-old boy riding in a vehicle leaving a party on Saturday night.

The family of the teenage victim, named as Jordan Edwards, demanded that criminal charges were filed against officer Roy Oliver.

In Chicago last night, two police officers were shot and wounded when two vehicles pulled up alongside their patrol car and someone started firing indiscriminately. One officer was shot in the arm and hip and the other in the back. Both were expected to recover.

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