Alton Sterling is yet another black man gunned down like an animal by police officers.
Alton Sterling murder by cop caught on camera
Why is it that black men, people of color, end up dead during altercations with police as they are somehow able to talk down others? To some, this is an epidemic corroborated by the reality of dead bodies of black men and people of color shot by police officers throughout the nation.
These occurrences are personal to every person of color and me. To be clear, I am not a police basher. In fact, I give police officers their due and have even blogged about a positive experience I had with one recently. But too often the combination of police officers lying to justify their prejudicial acts or homicides are the norm.
And now there is Alton Sterling. Al-Jazeera reported the incident as follows.
A policeman shot and killed a black man as he was held to the ground, US police have confirmed, as mobile phone footage alleged to be of the incident caused outrage online.
Coroner Dr William Clark identified the man as 37-year-old Alton Sterling. His death sparked protests in Louisiana’s second largest city, Baton Rouge, where he was killed.
A video by a bystander shows the shooting of Alton Sterling execution style. One can hear one officer shout ‘gun.’ Given the visible action, it is clear that the shout was for the sake of legal protection for the unneeded shooting. Louisiana is an open carry state.
It should not be surprising that Sterling had a gun. For those states that support open carry, it is upon them to ensure that police officers are not freaked out because a person of color is armed. Open carry seems to mean some are privileged to carry guns openly or concealed while others are suspects if they do.
Some will accuse this post of jumping to conclusion. I accept that critique. However, there is just cause for it. Lest we forget, the 19yer old who attempted to rip a weapon from an officer to kill Donald Trump lived.
Alton Sterling is a human being. Alton Sterling was a father.