Alton Sterling’s death was filmed by multiple cameras and broadcasted around the world. Two years ago, Baton Rouge police came upon the 37-year-old Sterling in front of a convenience store. Sterling was allegedly selling used CDs when officers Howie Lake and officer Blane Salamoni went to arrest Sterling, holding him on the floor and then shooting him while he lay face down—claiming they had seen him going for a weapon. Today it was announced by Louisiana’s Attorney General Jeff Landry that his office would not be charging any of the officers involved in this death with anything.
"The Louisiana Department of Justice cannot proceed with a prosecution of either Officer Howie Lake or Officer Blane Salamoni," Landry told reporters after meeting with members of Sterling's family in private.
The announcement comes just over a year and a half after Sterling's killing, which was recorded on video shot from at least two vantage points. The scene on film shows the officers, who had been called to the area on reports of a man threatening people with a gun, pinning the 37-year-old black man to the ground outside a Baton Rouge convenience store where he had been selling CDs.
This follows Trump’s Department of Justice announcing last year that they would not be pressing charges as things seemed all white to them as well. As AG Landry explains, there really is no such thing as evidence of malfeasance on the part of police officers when it comes to killing black people.
"This decision was not taken lightly," he added. "We came to this conclusion after countless hours of reviewing the evidence gathered and turned over by the U.S. Department of Justice including voluminous documents, many photographs, and extensive video evidence — and after our own interviews of eye witnesses to the event."
The Daily News has some of the family’s reaction to this turn of event.
“Shame on you, Blane Salamoni,” said Sharon Sterling, the victim’s wheelchair-bound aunt who suffered a stroke after the shooting. “You made a decision that night and it was bad one.”
The state investigation suggests Sterling was on drugs as he forcefully resisted arrest nearly two years ago, something his relatives vehemently dismissed.
Sterling’s family accused Landry of making him out to be a “monster,” while their attorneys called his conclusion a “biased” report.
You can watch Louisiana’s Attorney General Jeff Landry explain this miscarriage of justice away down below.