Video After The Jump
Lots of reactions are coming in as people see the video footage from the Tuesday, July 5, incident of a Baton Rouge, Louisiana police officer shooting 37-year old Alton Sterling 6-7 times in the chest and back, killing him.
Sterling had been selling CDs in front of the store at the time the incident began.
Here are the facts as we know them right now.
1. Cops responded to an anonymous call by someone who said a black male selling CDs and wearing a red shirt threatened him with a gun.
2. Sterling had a gun and as a convicted felon, wouldn't be permitted to have one. Those who knew him said he kept one to protect himself from robbers.
3. The two police officers that arrived on the scene both had body cameras that somehow got turned off by accident.
4. Witness, Arthur Reed, started filming from his car when police confronted Sterling.
5. The officers can be heard telling Sterling to get on the ground, before one of them tackles him, taking him to the pavement.
6. Sterling is face down on the ground with both officers holding him down. He gets tasered.
7. An officer yells: "He's got a gun! Gun!"
8. One officer pulls his own weapon out of it's holster and points it at Sterling. Seconds later a couple of shots are fired, followed by several more.
9. Sterling died on the scene.
10. Store owner, Abdul Muflahi, told WAFB-TV, that Sterling did not have a gun in his hand at the time but he saw officers remove a gun from Sterling's pocket after the shooting.
11.Store employee, Mufleh Alatiyat, said Sterling "was a very nice guy" who. "helped a lot of people" by giving away CDs or petty cash or buying food or drinks.
On Wednesday morning, July 6, Hot 97's Peter Rosenberg was fielding calls from listeners about the incident. A cop called in and Rosenberg said that on the surface the shooting looked bad. He asked the officer if he agreed.
The officer wouldn't say it looked bad, which enraged the radio host.
"Can you say the words it looks bad? Rosenberg asked. "This is the problem I have with cops. Y'all don't ever wanna point at some else and say you can't do your job well. Police officers never wanna say when y'all do a bad job. That's the reason the public thinks all of you are bad! Because you won't ever call someone out and say they murdered someone, in cold blood. It happened again and until you guys start taking responsibility for your own, people in the street are going to be upset instead. How about y'all lead the movement instead? How about instead of people rioting, police officers get out in front of it themselves! And you guys are the first ones on the front lines? They murdered that man! We just saw it!"
What are your thoughts on this situation and Rosenberg's comments? Let us know in the comment section below.
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