Was he a felon? The carnal knowledge conviction should have been a misdemeanor, the assault charges should have been misdemeanor, the possession with intent to distribute charge should have been misdemeanor. What else did he have?
Not to keen on giving this website traffic, but they seem to have records to show he was indeed a felon: http://gotnews.com/confirmed-bloods-gangbanger-altonsterling-owned-illegal-gun-drug-gun-convictions/ Dude doesn't have to be a saint. He doesn't have to have been obeying the law. He's dead so his culpability no longer matters. What matters is whether police did the right thing in using deadly force.
it doesn't matter if the guy was a felon or not - that doesn't justify being shot. The only thing that matters in this case is: 1. Was he reaching for his gun when he was shot. From the live audio it certainly sounds like it. But from the angle of the video, we cannot clearly tell either way. The angle of the store clerk/witness could've also been obstructed by the backs of the cops. Hopefully the store camera will shed some light on the situation. Until we see that other camera, I don't believe there's enough evidence either way.
Eyewitness (maybe store clerk ? ) Says one arm is free and moving when he was shot . Says he didn't see gun but wouldn't have from that angle ? . Given this guys record and the fact that he probably knew he would be going to prison on the weapon violation, all adds up to this guy resisting and possibly even wanting to go out fighting . <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PVz4HzmMdGY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
2nd video shows it was justified . Dude was fighting/resisting and had a gun . Move on to the next one
At the end of the video, you see them remove the gun (presumably) from his right hand pocket. That side of him is kinda under the front bumper of the car. It's possible because they were blocked by the car, they couldn't pin that right arm, and it's hard to see what he was doing with it in the video. It's possible he was reaching for his pocket, he did not obey commands to stop, and they couldn't pin that arm, so they shot him. Unless there's other video or eyewitness testimony to disprove that story, I'd think it'd be hard to get a conviction. But, I don't know if that means they're justified either.
Bull**** The cop on top had his gun to the guys chest. He pulled the trigger....probably by accident. However....there was no reason to have you gun pressed against the guys chest like that. There are videos of white suspects beating up cops...and still not getting shot.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/video-emerges-deadly-baton-rouge-police-shooting/story?id=40385136 Clearer version of the video.
the cop has his arm.......and he kept moving it. That why one says...."if you move....i swear to god.." The one on top.......pulls the trigger because he is amped up. Involuntary Manslaughter...........should be the charge.
I still don't see anything in that 2nd video that is conclusive one way or the other. The main thing I take from it is that he did have a gun in his right pocket and the cops warned him not to make a move for it so they have a pretty easy way to beat any case unless yet another video surfaces that shows he didn't move his right arm in that direction. When someone is armed and resisting arrest it's super easy to end up getting shot and I think that should be the lesson from this. I'm hoping the surveillance video will show more because while I don't see him making a move, I still can't see his right arm to see him not making a move towards his pocket. Knowing that the guy was a felon illegally carrying a handgun with a warrant out for his arrest for not registering as a sex offender he has reason to fight the cops to try and not get arrested because he's probably looking at going back to prison for his 2nd gun charge which if I'm correct would land him in prison for 10-20 years of hard labor.....well I need to see that he certainly wasn't going for it to fry the cops.
Since when guns are need for cops to shoot black people? Anyway....... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgdqXYOp9Kc
I wouldn't put too much hope on the surveillance camera. The one thing it will do is show the entire interaction from the very beginning. But it will probably: * Be poor resolution * Be shot from further away than that second video with a worse angle * Have no sound I really don't expect it will do anything to clarify whether Sterling's right hand was reaching for a gun.
Looks to me he kept trying to put his hands up. You can see him put his right hand up palm facing the officer twice and his left wrist even flexes back as he tries to do it. The officer keeps pulling his hand back down by his body. If they were concerned about him having a gun why didn't they put handcuffs on him? And why did they roll him on his back instead of his stomach? It makes no sense to me, but I am not a cop.
I would imagine they were trying to put handcuffs on him and if he was doing all that you say he was doing, then he wasn't cooperating.
They didn't tell him where to put his hands. He put them up in front of them in a hands up position. Why would the officer grab his hand and bring it towards his right pocket. Doesn't seem to me that they were trying to arrest him. Seems like they were looking for an excuse to pull the trigger. I mean they had two guys on him - they couldn't restrain him - he wasn't really struggling to get free and didn't seem to be resisting to me.
