Over 200 people were arrested during various protests in Baton Rouge last weekend, including one protest where riot gear-clad officers advanced in formation on protesters who (with the permission of the homeowner) had congregated on the front lawn of a private residence. Protest in peace – no guns, no drugs, no alcohol, no violence.
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In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, the ACLU of Louisiana and other groups, including Black Youth Project 100, accuse police of responding “to peaceful acts of protest with unlawful restrictions on constitutionally protected activity and disproportionate deployment of militarized equipment and excessive force”.
Asked if police had uncovered other evidence of a plot to shoot officers in Baton Rouge beyond Thomas’ statements to detectives, the chief said, “That was enough of a credible threat to take it really seriously”.
In making the arrests, it accuses the officers of using “unconstitutional levels of force, including physically tackling nonviolent demonstrators and use mace, taser charges, and/or pepper spray on nonviolent protesters”.
In Baton Rouge, Lousiana – site of the controversial killing of Alton Sterling by police on July 5 – three African-American suspects have been accused of plotting to harm police after being arrested July 9 for stealing eight handguns and a BB gun from Cash America Pawn.
The governor and the Baton Rouge police chief have defended the response, with the chief saying Tuesday that authorities discovered an alleged plot against police over the weekend.
“When the subject attempted to reach for the gun from his pockets the officers fired their police issued duty weapon at the subject to stop the threat”, Cook wrote.
“Police say the thefts were at a Baton Rouge pawn shop early Saturday morning”, Greg says.
Speakers at Alton Sterling’s funeral are calling for justice in the shooting death of the 37-year-old black man at the hands of two white police officers.
Alton Sterling’s 15-year-old son, Cameron Sterling, spoke out Wednesday, July 13, against the violence sparked nationwide after his father’s death. Most of the arrests were for obstructing roadways. First, I want to talk about how I feel about people in general.
State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson said information regarding the plot revealed “an actual, credible threat” against police.
A fourth man from the break-in is still considered to be at-large and is believed to have two of the stolen guns, police said. “Most of the protesters tried to obey police orders to stay out of the roadway, even backing off a grassy strip next to the road when police told them to move onto the sidewalk”.
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But Blair Imani, a 22-year-old LSU graduate and community activist, said she and several other demonstrators never saw anyone hurl anything at officers. Sterling was shot and killed last Tuesday by Baton Rouge police while selling CD’s outside the convenience store.
