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Ex-U.S. Marine Kills Three Policemen In Baton Rouge

Ex-U.S. Marine Kills Three Policemen In Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, La. (Reuters) – A decorated ex-U.S. Marine sergeant opened fire on police in Baton Rouge on Sunday, killing three officers, nearly two weeks after the fatal police shooting of a black man there sparked nationwide protests, one of which was shattered by the massacre of five Dallas policemen.

The suspect, dressed in black and armed with a rifle, was himself shot to death minutes later in a gunfight with police who converged on the scene of a confrontation that Mayor Kip Holden said began as an “ambush-style” attack on officers.

Two Baton Rouge Police Department officers and one sheriff’s deputy were killed, and one sheriff’s deputy was critically wounded. Another police officer and one other deputy suffered less severe wounds and were expected to survive.

Colonel Mike Edmonson, superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, told a news conference the gunman was believed to have acted alone, contrary to early reports that police may have been looking for other shooters.

It was not immediately clear whether there was a link between Sunday’s bloodshed and unrest over the police killings of two black men under questionable circumstances earlier this month – Alton Sterling, 37, in Baton Rouge on July 5, and Philando Castile, 32, near St. Paul, Minnesota, on July 6.

Police did not name the suspect. But a U.S. government official told Reuters the gunman was identified as Gavin Long, of Kansas City, Missouri. Long, who was black, was reported by other media to be 29 years old.

According to Long’s military record, released by the Pentagon, he served in the Marines from August 2005 until August 2010, achieving the rank of sergeant. Listed as a data network specialist, he was deployed to Iraq from June 2008 until January 2009, earning several medals and commendations.

Authorities declined to offer a possible motive for Sunday’s attack in Louisiana’s capital, a city with a long history of distrust between African-Americans and law enforcement that was further inflamed by Sterling’s slaying.

Social media postings linked to an individual named Gavin Long and a Kansas City address cordoned off by police on Sunday included a YouTube video saying he was fed up with mistreatment of blacks and suggesting only violence and financial pressure would bring about change. He also said he had been to Dallas to join in the protests there.

“It’s only fighting back or money. That’s all they care about,” he said to the camera. “Revenue and blood, revenue and blood, revenue and blood.”

PANDEMONIUM CAUGHT ON RADIO

A second government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said investigators had reason to believe an emergency 911 call may have been used to lure Baton Rouge police into harm’s way.

Edmonson said several officers came under fire as police were responding to a report of a man dressed in black standing behind a store holding a rifle shortly before 9 a.m.

In the ensuing pandemonium caught on a recording of emergency radio traffic, police are repeatedly heard reporting: “Officer down” and “deputy down” as officers swarmed the area searching for and ultimately confronting the gunman.

The episode was over in about eight minutes, according to Edmonson’s account. At least one of the three officers killed was known to be black.

President Barack Obama condemned the attack, vowed that justice would be done and called on Americans to focus on rhetoric and actions that united the country rather than divided it.

“We as a nation have to be loud and clear that nothing justifies violence on law enforcement,” Obama said in televised remarks from the White House.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards called the shootings an “unspeakable, heinous attack” that served no purpose.

“There simply is no place for more violence. That doesn’t help anyone, it doesn’t further the conversation, it doesn’t address any injustice, perceived or real. It is just an injustice in and of itself,” he told reporters in Baton Rouge.

Obama has sought to balance concerns about police abuses, largely against African-Americans, while paying tribute to fallen officers.

He attended a memorial service last week for the five Dallas police officers killed by a black former U.S. soldier who opened fire at the end of an otherwise peaceful protest on July 7 denouncing the Sterling and Castile slayings.

Those two killings and the reprisal attack on Dallas police by a suspect found to have embraced militant black nationalism renewed national tensions over racial justice and gun violence just as America’s presidential campaign was kicking into high gear. The Dallas gunman, Micah Johnson, 25, was killed by police deploying a bomb-carrying robot against him.

The wave of violence has also heightened security concerns across the country, notably in Cleveland and Philadelphia, hosts to this week’s Republican National Convention and next week’s Democratic National Convention, respectively, which are expected to formally nominate Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton for the Nov. 8 election.

WORRIES AROUND CONVENTION

“We demand law and order,” Trump said in a Facebook posting on Sunday afternoon.

In a statement, Clinton urged Americans to “stand together to reject violence and strengthen our communities.”

The head of a Cleveland police union called on Ohio Governor John Kasich to declare a state of emergency and suspend laws allowing for the open carry of firearms during the Republican convention.

“I don’t care what the legal precedent is. I feel strongly that leadership needs to stand up and defend these police officers,” Steve Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, told Reuters in an interview.

Loomis said he was concerned about copycat shootings at the Republican convention.

A spokeswoman for Kasich said the governor did not have the power to suspend the open-carry law.

Sunday’s shootings occurred about a mile from the Baton Rouge Police Department headquarters, where dozens of people were arrested this month while protesting Sterling’s death. The father of five was shot and killed at close quarters by law enforcement officers.

A witness to the Baton Rouge shootings, Brady Vancel, told CNN he saw a man dressed in black clothing and a ski-type mask running through a parking lot amid a hail of gunfire.

Vancel said the gunman “looked up and saw me. We stopped. I froze, he froze for a second, and he turned around and ran in the opposite direction the same time I turned around and ran in the opposite direction.”

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert, Ian Simpson, Tim Gardner and Julia Edwards, Sarah N. Lynch and Mark Hosenball in Washington; Writing by Paul Simao and Steve Gorman; Editing by Mary Milliken and Peter Cooney)

Photo: Police officers attend a vigil after a fatal shooting of Baton Rouge policemen, at Saint John the Baptist Church in Zachary, Louisiana, July 17, 2016.  REUTERS/Jeffrey Dubinsky

#EndorseThis: After Dallas, Messages Of Unity And Peace Across The Country

#EndorseThis: After Dallas, Messages Of Unity And Peace Across The Country

This morning, political leaders and citizens responded to last night’s sniper shooting of police officers in Dallas during a demonstration prompted by the recent killings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling by police in Minnesota and Louisiana. Five officers were killed and an additional seven were wounded, and many were quick to speak out on television and social media.

There is now an interfaith prayer vigil taking place in Dallas. You can view a live stream of the service here.

Among the most stirring responses came from the families of Castile and Sterling themselves. Quinyetta McMillon, the mother of Sterling’s son, appeared almost speechless in a CBS News interview, saying that she was thinking about “the hurt of those families [of the officers], the pain that they feel, because I’m going through it. It hurts.”

Philando Castile’s girlfriend Diamond Reynolds — who captured his death on her cell phone — wept in an interview but urged reporters not to connect Castile’s death with the killings of the officers. “We have absolutely no control over anything that’s happening in this world,” she said. “My deepest, deepest condolences go out to those families and to those officers in Dallas, because I’m here in Minnesota and I’m mourning.”

Speaking from a NATO summit in Poland, President Obama struck a somber note as well, calling the act “despicable,” paying tribute to the police officers, and stating that there was “no possible justification for these kinds of attacks.” He concluded his speech by turning to the issue of gun violence and alluding to the need for stronger measures against it.

House Speaker Paul Ryan also made oblique reference to the political battles over policing and guns that are likely to occur in the days ahead, but he made a case for unity and “humanity” across political divisions: “There will be a temptation to let our anger harden our divisions. Let’s not let that happen.”

However, despite these messages of unity, legislative fights are soon to break out once again over guns. At another news conference today, the Congressional Black Conference called for legislative action on gun violence and police shootings.

Perhaps the most powerful remarks came from Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who articulated the national mood “of helplessness, of uncertainty, and of fear” after the grim week. But in her address, she urged Americans to “turn to each other,” continue protesting for what they believed in, and abstain from violence.

 

Photo: Twitter/CBS Evening News

Alton Sterling’s Killing Was Caught On Camera, But Justice Is Still A Long Shot

Alton Sterling’s Killing Was Caught On Camera, But Justice Is Still A Long Shot

Yet another black man has been killed by police officers during a confrontation. This time, it was Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old father of five who was known for selling CDs outside the convenience store where he was shot down on Tuesday.

The Advocate reported that police were called after an anonymous caller claimed that Sterling had threatened him with a gun.

Sterling is the tenth person to have been killed by police in the state of Louisiana this year. Out of the ten victims, seven were black, two were white, and one’s race was “unknown.” For two of victims, it is “unknown” if they were armed at the time of the shooting.

Eric John Senegal was one of them. He was killed at 27-years-old by deputies who were serving a narcotics search warrant. Two officers were placed on desk duty after the incident. Local media did not follow up on Senegal’s killing.

Shannon Labit, Travis Stevenson and Calvin Smith suffered from mental illnesses.

No one has been indicted in the nine deaths before Sterling’s, and Lousiana Gov. John Bel Edwards did not make statements after any of the previous killings, though he did after Sterling’s death.

Tuesday’s shooting is different in one way – it is clearly visible in a now-viral 48-second video caught by a bystander. By Wednesday morning, protesters were demanding answers and justice, and Sterling’s family made a heart wrenching televised statement. Sterling’s 15-year-old son cried uncontrollably as his mother pledged that Sterling’s death “will not go unnoticed.”

“I think that the city is going to have to give us some good answers,” Edmond Jordan, an attorney representing Sterling’s family who is also a Louisiana state legislator, told CNN. “And I don’t know if they’ll be able to.”

According to Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman Captain L’Jean McKneely, the officers involved in the shooting were wearing body cameras, but the cameras allegedly came loose during the altercation.

Baton Rouge Police Lt. Johnny Dunham later said that the body cameras did catch some footage. “That footage may not be as good as we hoped for. During the altercation, the body cameras did become dislodged, but they did stay on and active and recording at this time.” he said at a Wednesday press conference.

This is not the first time Baton Rouge Police officers have had trouble capturing incidents with their body cameras. The Advocate reported in January that the Baton Rouge Police Department planned to stop the use of L-3 brand body cameras because officers were having trouble keeping them in place.

 

The national attention provoked by the video may be why Louisiana officials are promising to meticulously investigate Sterling’s death.

Gov. Edwards announced Wednesday morning that the shooting of Sterling will be investigated by the civil rights division of the Department of Justice. He called the video of the shooting “disturbing, to say the least.”

But this is not the first time such an incident was caught on camera, and more often than not, video of a police killing isn’t enough to convict the officers. Daniel Pantaleo, the NYPD officer who killed Eric Garner with a chokehold in 2014, was acquitted by a jury. Garner was unarmed, and Pantaleo had faced two civil suits previous to the incident related to abuses of power.

The 2015 murder of Walter Scott is one of few cases of police shootings where an officer involved has been charged with murder. Video of the incident showed officer Michael Slager shooting 8 times at an unarmed Scott, who was running away on foot. Slager is awaiting trial.

Police violence caught on camera has been a part of American life for decades. The videotaped beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles in 1991 caused outrage across the country, which further intensified after the officers who hit him with batons more than 50 times were acquitted by a jury. Three days of violent riots followed in which at least 53 people died.

The Rodney King case happened more than 20 years ago, but black men continue to be harmed and killed by police officers at a disproportionate rate.

The 2012 murder of teenager Trayvon Martin revived activism against police brutality, yet the man who killed him, George Zimmerman, infamously walked away with an acquittal. Just last week, another officer was acquitted in the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, and another in the videotaped beating of a teenage girl in Texas.

With the rise of social media and increased accessibility to information including video, citizen activism has exploded and the Black Lives Matter movement has gained momentum, but little has been done to address the issue in a lasting manner.

While no legislation has been passed to address police brutality in the state, Louisiana passed a law to protect “Blue Lives” back in May. The law includes crimes against law enforcement under the state’s hate crime legislation. It says anyone found to have targeted a police officer, firefighter, or first responder because of their profession will face an increased penalty of five years in prison, and a fine of up to $5,000.

At the time, Gov. Edwards said police officers “deserve every protection that we can give them.”

Louisiana is one of 14 states that have a “bill of rights” for police, including the allowance that “Any interrogation of a police employee or law enforcement officer in connection with an investigation shall be for a reasonable period of time and shall allow for reasonable periods for the rest and personal necessities of such police employee or law enforcement officer,” and “The police employee or law enforcement officer shall be granted up to thirty days to secure such representation, during which time all questioning shall be suspended.”

During these 30 days, officers are not required to answer any questions, and can council with each other if there is more than one officer involved.

According to a Washington Post database of news reports, public records, social media and other sources, at least 505 people have been killed by police so far this year. The states leading the country in police killings are California with 63, Texas with 45 and Florida with 33.

 

Photo: A protester wears tape over her mouth during a silent demonstration against what they say is police brutality after the Ferguson shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by a white police officer, in St. Louis

Louisiana Protesters Demand Justice For Black Man Shot By Police

Louisiana Protesters Demand Justice For Black Man Shot By Police

Dozens of protesters in Louisiana on Tuesday chanted slogans and held up signs demanding justice for a black man fatally shot in an altercation with two police officers hours earlier, video postings on social media showed.

The shooting comes at a time of fierce national debate and heightened scrutiny over the use of excessive force by police, especially against black men, in major U.S. cities, such as New York, Baltimore and Chicago.

Posts on Twitter showed the demonstrators gathered outside the Triple S Food Mart convenience store in Baton Rouge, where, police said in a statement, the man, Alton Sterling, 37, was shot by officers soon after midnight.

“No justice, no peace,” chanted the protesters, who held up signs and occasionally blocked traffic, in images transmitted by media outlets in Baton Rouge.

Police officials were not immediately available to comment on the shooting or the protest. Reuters could not immediately trace relatives of Sterling, or a representative, to seek comment.

At about 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday, two police officers responded to a disturbance at the convenience store where they encountered Sterling, the Baton Rouge Police Department said.

“Uniformed officers responded to a disturbance call from a complainant who stated that a black male who was selling music CDs and wearing a red shirt threatened him with a gun,” it added.

Sterling was shot in the ensuing altercation and died at the scene. The officers where placed on administrative leave, police said.

Several news stations on Tuesday evening aired what they said was cell phone video of the incident. It showed an officer using a stun gun on a red-shirted black man in a store parking lot and ordering him to get on the ground.

The two officers then tackled the man to the ground, and one pulled a gun from his holster to point it at the man’s chest, the video showed.

At least three gunshots then ring out on the video clip, followed by the sound of a woman screaming and crying and a man asking whether “they shot him.”

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Photo: Instagram user Live_Rich_Clothing