I'm not passing judgement yet. He was a large, strong man and a convicted felon in possession of a firearm who was physically resisting arrest after being reported for brandishing said weapon. The cops used a taser on him to no effect. Everyone seems quick to disparage the police without considering their situation and the very real threat he posed to them. 

 

There is a thread in the Political section discussing this.  I gave my thoughts regarding the incident from the perspective of what a law enforcement office would view it.  (No I'm not a cop).

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

What the [BAD WORD REMOVED] [BAD WORD REMOVED] is wrong with people?!

I'm more questioning that about people defending the murderers, honestly. The cop removed a gun from his pocket. <i>From his pocket</i>. He was not brandishing a weapon. He was murdered in cold blood.

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I'm more questioning that about people defending the murderers, honestly. The cop removed a gun from his pocket. <i>From his pocket</i>. He was not brandishing a weapon. He was murdered in cold blood.

 

He was a rather large man.

 

After refusing to follow simple instructions from a law enforcement officer, he was hit with a stun gun.  After that had no effect, the officers involved tackled and tried to restrain him.  Is it possible that they couldn't hold his hand from going for his weapon?

 

Hypothetical, but what would have happened had he been able to reach into his pocket, draw the gun and fire it?  What if the bullet hits an innocent bystander?  Would that innocent bystander being injured or killed be justified?

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

He was a rather large man.

 

After refusing to follow simple instructions from a law enforcement officer, he was hit with a stun gun.  After that had no effect, the officers involved tackled and tried to restrain him.  Is it possible that they couldn't hold his hand from going for his weapon?

 

Hypothetical, but what would have happened had he been able to reach into his pocket, draw the gun and fire it?  What if the bullet hits an innocent bystander?  Would that innocent bystander being injured or killed be justified?

He was pinned to the ground while being shot at point-blank range. Sorry, but you'll never convince me that there weren't alternatives available. He was murdered in cold blood. Those cops are guilty of second-degree murder and deserve no less than life imprisonment. I know it's sometimes tough for you to see through your faded blue glasses, but there are instances where the police are clearly in the wrong. So far, so clearly in the wrong that it boggles my mind that people even try to justify their actions. Shooting a man who's pinned to the ground and not brandishing a weapon, and firing on him FIVE TIMES from inches away? There's an incredibly broad line between any kind of responsible police tactics and cold-blooded murder, and this jumps so far across it that it's almost reaching up the tailpipe of doing things the right way.

 

If Sterling had fired a gun and hit a bystander, then he'd be guilty of something between attempted murder and second-degree murder, but it wouldn't matter because the cops would have very justifiably blown him into tiny pieces.

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There is new video released. Its gruesome. Leaves me with same conclusion. Its excessive use of force even though the guy had a gun in his pocket.

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It's hard to really judge based on the video and what is known so far. My only guess is that the guy refused to follow instructions, gets hit with a stun-gun and continues to resist and a struggle ensues. While they did have him on the ground the most important part isn't known. Did they have control of his hands and if not was he attempting to go for his weapon? If he was then the shooting could be ruled justified.


If he was fully subdued and controlled then at most the officer that did the shooting could face manslaughter charges.

The new video leaves little for speculation. One arm is clearly pinned down. I don't see the need to shoot this guy several times.

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There is new video released. Its gruesome. Leaves me with same conclusion. Its excessive use of force even though the guy had a gun in his pocket.

Isn't open carry allowed in his state?

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Isn't open carry allowed in his state?

I don't think he would be allowed to carry with his record anyway, but I don't know the state law there. No matter what, the gun was still in his pocket and one arm is clearly pinned down and he has two men on top controlling him. Why they felt the need to start shooting is beyond me.

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I don't think he would be allowed to carry with his record anyway, but I don't know the state law there. No matter what, the gun was still in his pocket and one arm is clearly pinned down and he has two men on top controlling him. Why they felt the need to start shooting is beyond me.

Yeah don't see how they felt so threatened that they needed to kill him.Was it panic or just lack of caring? I think it was the latter.

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Yeah don't see how they felt so threatened that they needed to kill him.Was it panic or just lack of caring? I think it was the latter.

Mostly panic I think. My guess is the other cop is the one who said "he's got a gun" while frisking him on the ground. At which point the officer draws his weapon and threaten deadly force immediately if the guy just moves.

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One man has lost his life while the two guys who took it are sitting back relaxing with paid leave.


The second video released shows nothing to justify shooting Mr. Sterling multiple times, especially at point blank range. I heard at least 5 gunshots in the videos I've watched. Mr. Sterling may not have been an "ideal citizen", but even with his checkered past, just judging off the videos available he did nothing to deserve losing his life over.


These officers who are supposed to protect and serve shouldn't even be allowed to walk the streets freely after this. Of course what will happen is they'll rule the shooting justified and these officers will be back on their beat in no time and the Baton Rogue police department will continue on as if nothing happened.

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"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."

How can you tell from the available footage, what happened? How do you know he didn't go for his gun. The latest footage clearly shows the cops weren't "happy" with how it went down. To hear you talk, they were high-fiving after.

 

The Cops responded to a call of a big dude matching his description for brandishing a weapon. He was a convicted felon and sex offender, he shouldn't have had the gun in the first place. 

 

#1 if you are a convicted felon with a gun on you, give up. Don't fight the cops.

 

Personally, I'm glad those cops went home that night. How many run in's with the cops did it take for them to take him out.

9/09/96 aggravated battery 
10/31/97 2nd degree battery 
1/06/98 simple battery 
5/04/00 public intimidation 

9/20/00 carnal knowledge of a juvenile 

9/04/01 domestic violence 

5/24/05 burglary of an inhabited dwelling place 

7/11/05 receiving stolen things 

9/12/05 burglary of inhabited dwelling place 

3/17/06 simple criminal damage to property, simple robbery, simple theft, drug possession, misrepresentation during booking, simple battery, aggravated battery 

4/12/06 aggravated battery, simple criminal damage to property, disturbing the peace, unauthorized entry 

4/04/08 domestic abuse battery 

6/03/09 resisting an officer, drug possession, receiving stolen things, possession of stolen firearm, illegal carrying of a weapon with CDs, sound reproduct without consent 

10/12/09 illegal carrying of weapon, marijuana possession 

8/13/15 failure to register as a sex offender 

4/08/16 failure to register as a sex offender 

6/14/16 ecstacy and marijuana possession

 

He's just a misunderstood gentle giant right?

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Someone called saying that Sterling threatened them with a gun. The police show up and something, that we don't know yet, happened before the recording. What we do know is that the police tried to arrest him, and they tried to taze him--twice. The tazers, as they often are, are ineffective. One of the officers tackles Sterling, and they struggle to gain control over him. 

 

As they're on top of him, one of them sees him reaching for the gun. He yells that he had a gun, but he can't let go of his hands because Sterling is actively reaching for the weapon. The second vehicle shows the top of Sterling's arm on the right-side and it appears flush with his body, presumably as someone would appear when they're reaching in their pockets. Before shooting him, however, the officers tells him not to move. Of course, he continues to move even though he has a gun pointed at him. 

 

They found a gun in the same pocket that Sterling reached for, the same pocket the officer said he saw the gun, and they had prior knowledge that he threatened someone else with it.

 

So, please, tell me why this isn't justified. I'll admit it looks brutal, but they don't have time to work their issues out. He's reaching for a gun.

 

I'm genuinely interested in knowing how others would handle it differently? I don't see another solution.

 

Just because it looks brutal, it doesn't mean it wasn't justified. 

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Someone called saying that Sterling threatened them with a gun. The police show up and something, that we don't know yet, happened before the recording. What we do know is that the police tried to arrest him, and they tried to taze him--twice. The tazers, as they often are, are ineffective. One of the officers tackles Sterling, and they struggle to gain control over him.


As they're on top of him, one of them sees him reaching for the gun. He yells that he had a gun, but he can't let go of his hands because Sterling is actively reaching for the weapon. The second vehicle shows the top of Sterling's arm on the right-side and it appears flush with his body, presumably as someone would appear when they're reaching in their pockets. Before shooting him, however, the officers tells him not to move. Of course, he continues to move even though he has a gun pointed at him.


They found a gun in the same pocket that Sterling reached for, the same pocket the officer said he saw the gun, and they had prior knowledge that he threatened someone else with it.


So, please, tell me why this isn't justified. I'll admit it looks brutal, but they don't have time to work their issues out. He's reaching for a gun.


I'm genuinely interested in knowing how others would handle it differently? I don't see another solution.


Just because it looks brutal, it doesn't mean it wasn't justified.

He didn't reach for the gun. The store owner who shot the second video and who witnessed the entire incident has said as much.

Later, Muflahi said he didn't hear Sterling say anything after the initial confrontation.


"(Sterling) was really confused," Muflahi said. "He didn't know what was going on or why they were there."


He said Sterling never showed a weapon.

"The gun was never anywhere in his hand, nor his hand wasn't near, inside his pocket," he said

<a class="bbc_url" href='http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/06/us/baton-rouge-shooting-alton-sterling/index.html'>http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/06/us/baton-rouge-shooting-alton-sterling/index.html</a>


The police saw a gun, miscommunicated with each other, and panicked. The gun and was never a threat to the officers at any time during the incident.

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"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."

Bad people have basic human rights too. It's what ensures that good people don't have them unjustly taken away.

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The gun was removed from the right pants pocket after the guy was shot.  I don't see how he could have reached for it with 2 cops on him and his arms pinned. 

 

One thing that wasn't mentioned is that they ordered him not to move or they'd shoot him - yet the man has just been Tased 2 times and likely had little control over his nervous system. 

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the man has just been Tased 2 times and likely had little control over his nervous system.

Speaking as someone who was hit with a Taser in college as part of a project for a justice studies course, you regain control almost instantly when the current is cut off. It does leave you disoriented for a few seconds, so just how out of control Sterling was is up for debate.


What's not up for debate is that he was immobilized on the ground, his hands were pinned and a gun was removed from his pocket by a cop after the fact, not found lying on the ground. And somehow shooting him five times from inches away was necessary.

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Someone called saying that Sterling threatened them with a gun. The police show up and something, that we don't know yet, happened before the recording. What we do know is that the police tried to arrest him, and they tried to taze him--twice. The tazers, as they often are, are ineffective. One of the officers tackles Sterling, and they struggle to gain control over him. 

 

As they're on top of him, one of them sees him reaching for the gun. He yells that he had a gun, but he can't let go of his hands because Sterling is actively reaching for the weapon. The second vehicle shows the top of Sterling's arm on the right-side and it appears flush with his body, presumably as someone would appear when they're reaching in their pockets. Before shooting him, however, the officers tells him not to move. Of course, he continues to move even though he has a gun pointed at him. 

 

They found a gun in the same pocket that Sterling reached for, the same pocket the officer said he saw the gun, and they had prior knowledge that he threatened someone else with it.

 

So, please, tell me why this isn't justified. I'll admit it looks brutal, but they don't have time to work their issues out. He's reaching for a gun.

 

I'm genuinely interested in knowing how others would handle it differently? I don't see another solution.

 

Just because it looks brutal, it doesn't mean it wasn't justified. 

 

There is no evidence of him reaching for a gun.  I don't know how he would have done that with two men on top of him controlling his arms.

 

I dont believe resisting arrest is automatic death sentence.

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This situation is pretty bad, and the incident in Minnesota looks even worse.

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Look, the only people we can trust with guns are cops. So line up and hand 'em over.

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato