Outrage, But Little Surprise, After Police Officers Face No Charges for Killing of Alton Sterling

Human rights advocates said Tuesday that Louisiana’s Justice Department acted in violation of international standards when it decided it would not prosecute two white police officers who fatally shot Alton Sterling, a black man, at close range while he was lying on the ground in Baton Rouge two years ago.

“The decision of the Louisiana Department of Justice is a reflection of the urgent need to review both state and federal laws governing when and how police should use deadly force,” said Kristina Roth, senior program officer for Amnesty International USA, in a statement. “Neither Louisiana, nor any other U.S. state, complies with international standards that maintain deadly force can only be used when there is an imminent threat to life or serious injury.”

Cell phone videos of Sterling’s shooting showed him being held down on the ground by the two officers, Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II, outside a grocery store. The police had responded to calls of a man brandishing a gun at the store.

Although Sterling was on the ground, Salamoni fired his weapon at him several times, killing him, after a bystander yelled, “He’s got a gun! Gun!” The encounter lasted less than 90 seconds.

The state’s decision came 11 months after the federal government decided not to prosecute the officers. Civil rights groups and gun control advocates alike condemned the Justice Department’s decision on social media.

Louisiana’s decision comes days after protests broke out in Sacramento, Calif., where Stephon Clark, an unarmed black man, was shot by two police officers while standing in his own backyard.

At the Huffington Post, Lilly Workneh and Taryn Finley added the ruling to a list of 21 examples of police officers walking free in recent years after shooting black victims.

“The list goes on and on of black men, women and children who died as a result of encounters with law enforcement and receive no justice while those responsible for their deaths―the same ones who pledge to ‘protect and serve’―face little to no repercussions,” they wrote.