The official blog for singer, writer, director and human rights advocate Aisha and her affiliated web sites.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
The Murder Of Alton Sterling By Louisiana Police Causes Outrage Among The Public (Videos)
Police brutality and excessive force strikes again in America. 37-year-old father of five, Alton Sterling, was tased, tackled and shot several times in the chest at point blank range, by an officer in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while his police partner held the victim down. Sterling died on the scene. He was selling CDs outside of a food store, with the permission of the owner, when police arrived.
It is being stated police receive a complaint Sterling threatened someone outside the store and brandished a gun. One of the two officers tackled Sterling to the ground, then pinned his arm down, as did his fellow cop. While having Sterling completely subdued, one officer yelled "he's got a gun" (said to be in his pocket, which is lawful in America) and within seconds the other cop took out his own weapon and fired into Sterling's chest at close range, executing him.
Alton Sterling
The police officers also quickly seized the store owner's security camera footage showing the murder. However, unbeknownst to the officers at the time, two people sitting in a car used their mobile phones to film the shooting. They anonymously uploaded the video from their phone to the internet, sparking massive outcry from the public. The police officers claim their body cameras fell off during the scuffle, which is not seen on the video that ultimately surfaced.
To blunt public sympathy, police began pushing Sterling's criminal record online. It is being stated Sterling had been previously arrested for aggravated battery, domestic violence, unauthorized entry, vandalism, drug possession (marijuana), weapons possession, disturbing the peace and is a registered sex offender, regarding a "carnal knowledge of a juvenile" criminal conviction. As serious as those crimes are, it does not negate the fact he still had human rights and to summarily execute him on a public street, after aggressively approaching him, cost him his life and in a very violent way that looks bad. The store's owner stated he did not see Sterling reach for a gun and was tased then shot by police.
The video is awful and chilling. There’s no way to objectively state that Sterling's shooting death was justifiable homicide. That was an execution via excessive force illustrating a total disregard for human life. It is alarming that these types of cases are becoming more and more egregious. For every cop that goes out there and does his job properly, the intense public scrutiny and disgust the bad apples bring to the force does an extraordinary world of damage to the name of police in America and in the area of race relations regarding the black community and authorities.
The police brutality occurring in numerous places in American makes it a federal issue, as it is occurring in a number of U.S. states which encompasses the country. Congress is the only entity that can truly bring reform on this tragic issue, via meaningful legislation or the problem will continue to occur. There are nations where police don't even use guns and still get the job done, effectively policing, with nowhere near the fatality rate present in America. However, I am of the belief Congress is too afraid to enact the legislation needed to curb the problem
