Alton Sterling
Alton Sterling was just another Black man looking for a way to make ends meet. The self-employed father of three would sell bootleg music outside Triple St. Food in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to earn extra cash. When Baton Rouge police officers approached Sterling, they were combative. A cellphone video captured two police officers slamming Sterling against a car and tackling him to the ground. They used a taser on Sterling who did not appear to resist arrest. One police officer apparently saw Sterling’s gun and yelled, “He’s got a gun!” Eyewitnesses say that Sterling never reached for his weapon and the police officers never asked to see a gun permit. Instead, the officers began firing gunshots at point blank range. According to initial reports by the coroner, two of the bullets hit Sterling in the back and chest.
