The lawyer for Alton Sterling’s family is calling for peaceful protests in the wake of the Dallas sniper attack on Thursday, that left five officers dead and seven wounded. Two civilians were also injured.
While offering his condolences to “the police officers not only slain but injured as well,” Edmond Jordan told People he believes the shooting suspects saw the Black Lives Matter protest as an “opportunity.”
“I don’t think it [the shooting] should be tied to the protests at all,” he said.
As previously reported, on Thursday, July 7, a gunman opened fire during what police described as a peaceful protest organized in the wake of the deaths of Sterling and Minnesota man Philando Castile. However, reports indicate it was not protesters but officers and White people in general who were targeted.
On Friday, July 8, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings revealed that three suspects in the shooting were in custody and a fourth, identified as war veteran Micah Xavier Johnson, had been killed in a shootout with police. Officers cornered Johnson and, after several hours of negotiation, killed him with explosives attached to a bomb robot. Johnson told police he was upset by recent police shootings and “wanted to kill White people,” authorities said.
On Tuesday, July 5, Sterling was shot and killed by police in Baton Rogue, Louisiana, while selling CDs outside a convenience store, where he had built a relationship with the owner, Abdullah Muflahi. The horrific killing, which was caught on video, spread across social media like wildfire; provoking anger, confusion and an overall sense of sadness.
Just one day later, a second video surfaced, featuring the bloody aftermath of police shooting Castile, an African American school nutrition services supervisor. According to Diamond Reynolds, Castile’s fiancée, a Minnesota police officer shot her future husband four times. “He let the officer know that he had a firearm and he was reaching for his wallet and the officer just shot him in his arm,” Reynolds said as she live-streamed the details of Wednesday evening’s shooting on Facebook. He had been pulled over for a broken taillight, Reynolds explained on the Facebook video. He told the officer he was armed and had a concealed carry permit, she said. Her daughter, 4, was in the back seat.
In the clip, you can hear Reynolds plead with both God and the officer concerning Castile’s life. “Please don’t tell me this, Lord. Please, Jesus, don’t tell me that he’s gone,” she said. “Please, officer, don’t tell me that you just did this to him. You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir.”
Sterling’s family has chosen to respond in peace. “Here in Baton Rouge we’ve been asking and saying that look, we want you to protest, we don’t have an issue with protesters, but we want it to be peaceful, a peaceful protest,” Jordan continued.
“We think the only way you can respect the name of Alton Sterling and his family, and Mr. Castile in Minnesota as well, is to have peaceful protests.”
Sterling’s death is currently being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the FBI. Share your thoughts and condolences in the comment section below.
