Two Police Shootings Of Black Victims Have Got Us All Thinking: What The Hell Is Going On?
Alton Sterling, Baton Rouge
Shortly after midnight on Tuesday, Alton Sterling was approached and taken to the ground by two police officers outside of a food mart in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As they pinned him on his back, shouting occurred before an officer pulled his gun and shot Sterling multiple times. He died shortly after.
Officers were responding to a report that Sterling used a gun to threaten a person while selling CDs.
Two bystanders captured the incident on cell phones; the mart’s surveillance video also filmed the whole thing. The mart’s owner, who’s seen the video, has called it murder. Widespread protests have popped up throughout Baton Rouge.
An officer appears to pull a gun from Sterling’s pocket after the shooting.
Here is the footage as compiled and edited by ABC.
Here are links to the actual cell phone videos.
Philando Castile, Falcon Heights
Last night, Philando Castile was shot by police during a traffic stop. The incident gained national attention as Philando’s girlfriend, listed on Facebook as Lavish Reynolds, live-streamed the aftermath of the shooting on Facebook. She claims the car — carrying Philando, herself and a young girl presumed to be her daughter — was pulled over for a busted tail light. She also claims that when police asked Philando to get his ID, he reached for his wallet and informed the officer he was carrying a gun and was licensed to do so. They reportedly told him not to reach for the gun and to put his hands up. As he did so, the officer pulled the trigger. Seconds after, the video begins.
Castile died at a local hospital not long after the incident. A group of people began to gather throughout the night and protests have been ongoing ever since.
Here is the link to the video.
Let me preface everything by saying that it’s extremely early in the investigations. These just happened and we do not know all the facts and, therefore, should not jump to irrational or emotional conclusions.
Having said that, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!? As the whitest white dude in America I will admit that I have now reached the point that I’m terrified for my black friends. If this story is true, and by all accounts it seems pretty damn real, Philando Castile was shot dead because he had a broken tail light, was the licensed carrier of a gun and informed the officers of that? That’s FUCKED UP. It’s like some cops are just shooting any black man for any reason. Or for no reason at all. Doesn’t matter.
In the immediate moments after firing the shots, you can see the cops’ anguish. You can see they regret what happened and know it’s going to become a thing. They’ve realized what they’ve done. But that doesn’t matter. That’s not the problem. That doesn’t save lives. Some of these guys’ stereotyping, panic, lack of professionalism and simple disregard for life takes over in the moment and they’re UNBELIEVABLY quick to pull the trigger. And they pull the trigger WAYYYY too many times.
Alton Sterling? Pinned to the ground by two officers… then shot how many times? I heard at least 6 or 7 pops? Is that a fucking joke?
The black communities are going to lose their shit over these incidents and they have EVERY right to. Let’s hope they do it as peacefully as possible, but lord knows if these victims were one of our loved ones we’d have an impossible time keeping our cool. We can’t even watch sports games without flipping out.
Police brutality against black people is officially out of hand. The worst — and frankly most embarrassing — part is that technological advancements putting cell phones in everybody’s hands is the only reason we’re finding out about these. The only reasons WE’RE enraged. This police brutality, police overreaction, police quick-to-the-trigger phenomenon against the black community clearly didn’t just pop-up within the last few years. It’s been there, it’s deeply entrenched, and we all HAVE to admit that it’s there before we can collectively try to better it.
It’s literally killing people for fucks sake. Killing people.