Authorities in Baton Rouge, La., have arrested three people who officials say stole guns from a local pawn shop and planned an attack on police officers days after the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling.
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Col. Mike Edmonson, superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, said at a news conference that the plot, had it been carried out, would have caused “substantial harm to police in the Baton Rouge area”.
The plot involved a July 9 break-in to steal guns from a pawnshop, officials said. The suspect was carrying a handgun and a BB pistol, Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie, Jr. said Tuesday. Gautreaux said the threat to law enforcement “speaks for itself”.
Alton Sterling will be mourned at the F.G. Clark Activity Center of Southern University in Baton Rouge on Friday.
On Monday, a raid was conducted at a Baton Rouge home that was connected with this case. A Baton Rouge detective told CNN that police officers shot Sterling when he threatened them with a gun, but in videos circulated by eyewitnesses, it appears that police shot Sterling while he was pinned to the ground after being brutally beaten.
“In light of what happened in Dallas, understanding that just one gunman can change the situation entirely, how do you in good conscience put police officers on the street without the ability to defend themselves?” he said. “A very peaceful protest, and then some insane mad man did what he did”.
“We ask that suspect, you know who you are, please turn yourself in”, Dabadie said. The suspects now in police custody are 17-year-old Antonio Thomas, 20-year-old Malik Bridgewater and 23-year-old Trashone Coats, according to WAFB-TV. Investigators say no ammunition was recovered, but they do not believe any were reported stolen from the pawn shop.
28-year-old Abdullah Muflahi says that police at the scene placed him in a locked police vehicle for four hours and denied him access to his cell phone, preventing him from contacting his family or an attorney.
“I think we’ve already been on heightened awareness”, he said.
Three people have been arrested in Baton Rouge as part of an alleged plot to kill police during protests there. “We have received questions as to why we used such a show of force during weekend protests, this is why”. Mckesson also told Alan people of color have been over policed for a long time, that the comments made by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani show why people are “better off that he’s no longer a public servant”, and if his arrest will bring more light to the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
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The Department of Justice is also investigating the shooting for possible civil rights violations. Sterling was shot and killed last Tuesday by Baton Rouge police while…
