Myra Richardson, an organizer with The Wave, a youth-led activist group in Baton Rouge, said Sterling's case is "representative of the longstanding history of violence that is sanctioned by the state and mistrust in the police".
Relatives of Alton Sterling leave a news conference outside the Federal Court House in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Wednesday. The U.S. Justice Department has decided not to charg.
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert). Everett Matthews of Baton Rouge, holds up a sign outside the Triple S Food Mart, where Alton Sterling was killed previous year, in Baton Rouge, La., Tuesday, May 2, 2017.
The AP reported that a police report said the officers saw the butt of a gun in Sterling's pockets and that they saw him try to reach for it.
Damon Brumfield, a student at Southern University of Baton Rouge, poses while his friends take photos, in front of a mural honoring Alton Sterling, outside the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge, La., Tuesday, May 2, 2017. The.
Acting U.S. Attorney Corey Amundson, during his rundown of the federal decision in the Sterling case, said the state police would be involved, but mostly in a supportive role.
Amundson didn't immediately return messages asking him about the alleged verbal threat. Sterling, a 37-year-old African American, can be seen struggling with two officers, Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake, both Caucasian, before Sterling is shot at close range several times. Within a few seconds, Officer Lake reached into Sterling's right pocket and pulled out a.38 caliber revolver.
Two independent use-of-force experts "concluded that the officers' actions were reasonable under the circumstances and thus met constitutional standards", the Justice Department said.
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores told CNN the department has not communicated a decision to anyone. Michael Adams, an attorney for Andricka Williams, mother of three of Sterling's children, told ABC News today that Williams is disappointed that the DOJ isn't bringing charges, adding that Williams learned of the DOJ's decision from the media on Tuesday even though the family was allegedly promised it would be told first. But he also believes too much federal scrutiny of police departments can diminish officers' effectiveness and hurt morale, and has ordered a sweeping review of federal consent decrees that force cities to agree to major policing overhauls.
Lee Wesley urged Broome to demand the release of body camera video from the officers that is expected to show what happened outside the Triple S Food Mart in the early morning hours of July 5 a year ago.
In his own words: Why Dale Earnhardt Jr. is leaving NASCAR
It always sounds simple - you just plug another guy into the racing auto, but a lot of sponsors have to sign off. Earnhardt said that "without a shadow of a doubt", the toughest part of his decision was informing Hendrick.
"Less than one second later, during a point at which the location of Sterling's right hand was not visible to the cameras, Officer Salamoni again yelled that Sterling was 'going for the gun!' " the Justice Department said in a news release.
"I certainly don't know anyone who was satisfied with the way that this decision rolled out yesterday, with the leak", Broome said.
Stewart said this shows Salamoni instigated the situation.
A Shreveport area civil rights leader says now it's the state's turn to investigate the Alton Sterling case. I'm on the interstate and I lost it, I panicked.
Sterling's death was captured on cellphone video and sparked widespread protests over the treatment of black men by police.
Cameron Sterling, 15, said that he forgives the officer who killed his father, but he is hopeful that state prosecutors bring charges.
"This matter now needs to be investigated for possible state criminal violations", he said in a statement Tuesday, which was posted on Twitter.
Family members appealed to Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry to do just that.
Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that federal civil rights charges will not be pursued against the two officers involved in the Sterling case.
Comments