$4.5M Settlement in Alton Sterling Case: Black Man Murdered by Cops During Unlawful Arrest for Possessing a Gun They Never Saw in an Open Carry State, White 911 Caller, No Cops Charged

From [HERE] The family of Alton Sterling, a Black man who was shot and killed by a white police officer outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, La., has reached a $4.5 million settlement with the city, nearly five years after his death, the family’s lawyers said.

The settlement, which came after the family had filed a lawsuit against Baton Rouge and others, “will allow the city to heal and provide a pathway for Mr. Sterling’s children to be provided for financially,” the lawyers said in a statement.

The announcement came after a state district court judge in East Baton Rouge Parish approved the settlement and closed the case in mid-May, The Advocate reported.

Mr. Sterling, 37, a father of five, was fatally shot on July 5, 2016, after two white Baton Rouge police officers, Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II, responded to a 911 call by a white man that a Black man who was selling CDs outside a convenience store had brandished a gun and threatened someone. [MORE]

Two officers arrived and confronted him about 12:35 a.m.

In the cellphone video shot by a bystander Sterling was standing alone, his arms outstretched at his sides, when a police officer rushing Mr. Sterling onto the hood of the car and then tackling him to the ground. A second cop quickly joined and, moments later, Sterling lay bleeding to death from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back.

He did not fight. He made no threats.

Cellphone video recorded by a bystander shows an officer pushing Mr. Sterling onto the hood of a car and tackling him to the ground. Mr. Sterling is held to the pavement by two officers, and one appears to hold his gun above Mr. Sterling’s chest.

Someone on the video can be heard saying: “He’s got a gun! Gun!” An officer can be seen pulling his weapon. After some shouting, what sound like gunshots can be heard, and the camera shifts away, and there are more sounds that could be gunshots.

After the incident local officials refused to say definitively whether Sterling was armed. A state report later said that Mr. Lake had found a .38-caliber handgun in Mr. Sterling’s pocket after the shooting. However, the alleged gun, if it even existed, according to the police was not visible to them when they arrived or during the interaction.

Louisiana is an open carry state. Possession of a firearm without a permit is permissible under state law, by anyone who is at least 17 years of age legally able to possess a firearm under state and federal law.

Additionally, when police arrived Sterling was not selling cd’s and they did not see a gun. Prior to interacting with him the cops did not attempt to corroborate any details provided by the white 911 caller by communicating with the store owner or questioning Sterling or any other person present. When the cops arrived Sterling was no engaged in any crime. In other words, at the time of his arrest and seizure there was no reasonable articulable suspicion within the meaning of the so-called 4th Amendment. As such, the arrest was unlawful. The dependent media could give zero fucks about these imaginary rights.

The episode was partially captured on video. However, police confiscated the store’s surveillance footage that the store owner said would have captured every second of the violent death outside his store.

In early 2017, Trump’s Justice Department decided not to bring federal charges against Mr. Salamoni and Mr. Lake, and Louisiana’s attorney general [also white] announced almost a year later that the officers would not face state charges.

Several days after that, Mr. Salamoni, who had fired six shots at Mr. Sterling, was fired from the Baton Rouge Police Department, and Mr. Lake was suspended for three days.

After announcing those disciplinary actions, the Baton Rouge police released footage of Mr. Sterling’s arrest and his killing.

The body-camera video shows Mr. Salamoni repeatedly shouting profanities at Mr. Sterling, slamming him into a car, ordering Mr. Lake to use his Taser and threatening to shoot Mr. Sterling with a gun pointed at his head.

In September, the Baton Rouge Metro Council rejected a proposed $5 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit that Mr. Sterling’s children had filed against the city in 2017, which contended that the killing was part of a longstanding pattern of racism and excessive force within the Baton Rouge Police Department, The Advocatereported.