The Baton Rouge Cop Who Shot Alton Sterling Has Been Fired, And Videos Of The Incident Have Been Released

mars 31, 2018

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Blane Salamoni, the Baton Rouge police officer who shot and killed Alton Sterling in 2016, has been fired by the Louisiana city’s police department following the release of several videos detailing the incident. According to CNN, Police Chief Murphy Paul told journalists gathered at a press conference late Friday that Salamoni had been fired specifically “for violating use-of-force polices” in the matter. The fired cop’s attorney, Paul added, had “indicated the officer will appeal the chief’s decision” at a later date. As for the other officer on the scene, Howie Lake, he “will be suspended for three days without pay for losing his temper.”

As for the footage made public by the police department, it includes “convenience store surveillance video, two police-worn body camera videos and a video recorded by the dashboard camera in one of the police cars.” According to The Daily Beast, an increasingly angry Salamoni repeatedly escalated the situation with Sterling outside the convenience store, where the latter was selling unmarked CDs. Lake, on the other hand, tried to deescalate the situation as much as possible. At one point, Salamoni pointed his gun at Sterling’s head and shouted, “Don’t fucking move, I’ll shoot yo fucking ass, bitch.”

Earlier this week, it was announced at the Louisiana Attorney General’s office had decided not to file charges against Salamoni and Lake for Sterling’s shooting death. Nearly a year prior, the Justice Department (as lead by current Attorney General Jeff Sessions) had announced that it would not be filing any charges against the officers either — an apparent sentiment for not getting involved in “local matters” that was made explicit by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders this week.

(Via CNN and The Daily Beast)