Gun Control=Guns Only for Cops? White Cops Won't Confirm Whether He Had Gun. Refuse to Release their Video. Fingerprints? From [HERE] and [HERE] The Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation on Wednesday into the fatal shooting of a black man by the Baton Rouge police that was captured on video, as city and state leaders appealed to a city roiled by the killing to remain calm.

Two white officers were arresting Alton B. Sterling, 37, early Tuesday, and had him pinned to the ground when at least one of them shot him. There were indications that Mr. Sterling might have had a gun, but officials refused to say definitively whether he was armed. [ Why not confirm such a simple fact? Persons unconscious enough to murder also might tell lies or plant evidence.] 

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.

The shooting prompted protests, and relatives of Mr. Sterling, civic leaders and state lawmakers demanded an investigation independent of the Baton Rouge police.

“I have full confidence that this matter will be investigated thoroughly, impartially and professionally,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said in announcing the federal takeover of the case. “I have very serious concerns. The video is disturbing, to say the least.” Edwards is also white and he is a Democrat.

Officials identified the two officers as Blane Salamoni, who has been with the Police Department for four years, and Howie Lake II, with three years’ experience; both have been placed on administrative leave.

Mr. Salamoni is the son of Noel Salamoni, a captain in the department who is in charge of special operations, a fact that may have factored into the decision to turn matters over to the Justice Department. His mother, Melissa Salamoni, is a retired Baton Rouge police captain. [MORE]

The officers, who were interviewed Wednesday, both said they “believe they were completely justified in using deadly force,” East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore said at a press conference. Moore is also white. 

Searching for Justification. Local and state officials endorsed that the federal takeover of the case. ”We feel it is in the best interest of the Baton Rouge Police Department, the city of Baton Rouge and this community for this to happen,” the police chief, Carl Dabadie Jr., said. He is also white. 

There are multiple videos that may show the conflict with Mr. Sterling, in addition to the one recorded by a bystander that has been made public, Lt. Jonny Dunham, a Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman, said at a news conference. Mr. Jordan, the family lawyer, called on the police to release the videos, but Lieutenant Dunham said that for now, the department was providing them only to the federal authorities.

“We have in-car camera video footage, we have body camera video footage and there is video at the store,” Lieutenant Dunham said. Of the recordings from the body cameras the officers wore, he said: “That footage may not be as good as we hoped for. During the altercation those body cameras came dislodged.”

On Tuesday, a person called the police to report that a black man selling music CD’s outside the Triple S Food Mart on North Foster Drive, who was wearing a red shirt, had threatened him with a gun, the Police Department said. 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. He is dead and his young children are fatherless.

The store owner, Abdullah Muflahi, said he had known “the CD man” for six years and allowed him to sell his wares in front of the store. “They told him not to move,” Muflahi said, according to CNN. “He was asking them what he did wrong.”

As Sterling stood in the darkness with his arms outstretched at his sides, Muflahi said he saw an officer slam him onto the hood of a car. Both officers attempted to pin him to the ground. Sterling stumbled, but did not fight back.

[Looking for an Excuse.] “If you fucking move, I swear to God,” one cop was heard saying. At one point someone on the video can be heard saying, “He’s got a gun! Gun!” and one officer can be seen pulling his weapon. After some shouting, what sounds like gunshots can be heard and the camera shifts away.

The police have not said whether Mr. Sterling had a gun, but witnesses told reporters that they saw a handgun on the ground next to him [how convenient]. Mr. Jordan, the lawyer, said Mr. Sterling’s relatives were not aware of him owning a gun. 

William Clark, the coroner of East Baton Rouge Parish, said that Mr. Sterling had died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back. Lieutenant Dunham declined to say whether both officers fired their guns, or if either of them used an electric stun device on Mr. Sterling. No information about fingerprints on the gun or any information about the gun has been released. 

In a Twitter post early Wednesday, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson called the shooting a “legal lynching.”

Kimberly Lang, who knew Sterling, said she purchased CDs from time to time. And he “did not have a reputation for violence.” According to an Associated Press report, Lang contended that “If Sterling did have a gun on him, it was probably because he feared being robbed while peddling his CDs late at night — not because he was interested in threatening anyone.”

It should be noted that 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.

Causing traffic jams, lighting candles, praying to jesus or allah, singing songs, speech making and a whole bunch of other activities Blacks and Latinos engage in will never stop white supremacy.