After 10 months, Federal prosecutors have announced that the two officers involved in the death of Alton Sterling will not be charged because there is not enough evidence to warrant civil rights charges. The case files will be handed over to Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, who will ultimately determine if state charges are appropriate.
Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was killed by police officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II in July 2016. A cellphone video emerged of the incident, showing Sterling being pinned to the ground by the officers before he was shot. The officers were responding to a 9-1-1 call that reported a man with a gun outside a convenience store. According to police, Sterling was reaching for a gun when he was shot.
Sterling’s death and the subsequent footage of it sparked outrage among the Black Lives Matter community, leading to protests across the country.
Demonstrators protest the shooting death of Alton Sterling near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. pic.twitter.com/WSpc2O4P6x
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) March 8, 2018
According to Landry, the state department will lead the investigation with the assistance of a prosecutor from the state’s Department of Justice. “A thorough and complete investigation could take a considerable amount of time,” he said. “As such, we ask for patience from the public and the press.”
The Sterling family was disappointed with the decision from the US Department of Justice, said family attorney Chris Stewart. “We’re not angry. We’re not gonna… let rage rule, because it’s not over.”
New details about the shooting have emerged along with the Justice Department’s announcement. The officer who shot Sterling first put a gun to his head when he refused to put his hands on the hood of the car. As shown in the video, the officers put their hands on Sterling when he refused and struggled with them. That is when Salamoni pulled out his gun. Stewart says they learned while in conversation with federal prosecutors that Salamoni said “I’ll kill you, bitch.”
Sterling’s aunt was particularly emotional following the news conference, bursting into tears. “Oh my God, that was the hardest thing ever,” Sandra Sterling cried, before being led away by her attorney. “To hear Salamoni tell my nephew, my child who I love so much, that I’m going to kill you. He put that gun to his head. … Salamoni put that gun to his head and said I’m going to kill you. So how do you think Alton felt? How do you think Alton felt after hearing that I’m going to kill you?”
According to Stewart, Salamoni instigated the situation. The most important thing is it shows the mindset of Officer Salamoni,” Stewart told CNN.
Salamoni’s attorney John McLindon told CNN that he does not know if Salamoni did indeed say those words. “I was not a part of that conversation the Sterling family had. The US attorney did allude to the officer’s behavior not being appropriate,” McLindon said. “If it did happen, then the feds knew about it. If it’s on video or audio, they have it. And they used two separate expert witnesses on use of force. Both of them reached the same conclusion — that it was not criminal behavior. If it did happen, it did not rise to the level of criminal conduct.”
Other details from the case reveal that Sterling was carrying a .38 caliber revolver with 6 rounds in it. Lake used his taser twice on Sterling before making contact. Two videos of the incident have been released to the public, and there are four other in evidence: two body camera recordings, one from a store surveillance camera, and one from the dashboard camera in a patrol car.
Authorities refused to comment further on the case.
According to Stewart, the Sterlings are hoping that the state will find reason to charge the officers even though federal prosecutors didn’t.
To do this, Corey Amundson, acting US attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana, said, “We would have to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Officer Salamoni did not believe that Mr. Sterling was actually going for a gun … and that he simply decided to shoot him.”
Salamoni’s lawyer said he agrees with the Justice Department’s decision “100 percent” and that he’s making plans to contact the Louisiana attorney general to discuss cooperating with the next investigation.
Lake’s attorney Fred T. Crifasi called the shooting a tragic accident. “It has drastically changed the lives of all those personally connected and has indirectly affected so many more,” he said. “While Officer Lake is certainly relieved by the conclusion reached by the United States Department of Justice, he is aware that this investigation is now in the hands of the Attorney General for the State of Louisiana. Accordingly, he will continue to refrain from publicly commenting on the facts of the case.”
The mayor of Baton Rouge Sharon Weston Broome made a statement about the case, saying that it will lead to revisions in the city’s police training manual about the use of force. She has also said that $2 million will be put toward securing body cameras for the entire police force and training in implicit bias.