BY
TERENCE CULLEN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Tuesday, March 27, 2018, 1:23 PM
Two Baton Rouge cops will not be charged with the July 2016 killing of Alton Sterling outside a convenience store that provoked outrage and nationwide protests, the state’s top prosecutor said Tuesday.
“This decision was not taken lightly,” Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry announced. “We came to this conclusion after countless hours of reviewing the evidence.”
Sterling’s grieving loved ones were enraged after Landry privately told them officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II would not face state charges.
“Shame on you, Blane Salamoni,” said Sharon Sterling, the victim’s wheelchair-bound aunt who suffered a stroke after the shooting. “You made a decision that night and it was bad one.”
The state investigation suggests Sterling was on drugs as he forcefully resisted arrest nearly two years ago, something his relatives vehemently dismissed.
Sterling’s family accused Landry of making him out to be a “monster,” while their attorneys called his conclusion a “biased” report.
The AG’s office said Salamoni and Lake were trying to make a “lawful arrest” when they approached Sterling on July 5, 2016.
They were called to a Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge just after midnight, where someone said a man was threatening outside with a handgun.
Surveillance footage, which authorities have refused to release, showed Sterling threatening a man with a handgun in his right pocket, the AG’s report said. Cellphone video from the encounter has been made public, however. ...