The Rev. Jesse Jackson said the country had three sites of crucifixion last week including Dallas, where five police officers died July 7 after an ambush at a Black Lives Matter protest. Sandra Sterling, center, walks with her daughter Crystal Egbont, left, and other family members and friends as they arrive for the burial of Alton Sterling at the Mount Pilgrim Benevolent Society Cemetery in Baton Rouge.
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Moore said DeRay Mckesson, a prominent Black Lives Matter activist, is among those who will not be prosecuted.
Sterling was shot and killed by police after a confrontation with officers at a convenience store, where he was apparently selling CDs outside. A second man, Philando Castile, was killed by a police officer during a traffic stop the following day in suburban St. Paul, Minnesota.
Then in Dallas last Thursday, one of the protests ended with the killing of five policemen in a racially motivated attack by a black USA military veteran who opened fire on white officers.
The casket of Alton Sterling is placed into a hearse during his funeral at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. They had already arrested three other people – an unnamed 13-year old, Antonio Thomas, 17 and Malik Bridgewater, 20.
“Nobody stands for what happened in Dallas, but I want to see some of you stand up in Louisiana and say we think that it’s wrong when cops do wrong”, said the Rev. Al Sharpton, during Sterling’s service.
BATON ROUGE (WGNO) – Less than half of the people arrested during protests in Baton Rouge last weekend will be prosecuted, WBRZ reports. Police have said they found a gun in Mr Sterling’s pocket.
Abdullah Muflahi, the owner of the Triple S Food Mart, took the stage Friday at Sterling’s funeral to rousing applause. “It’s sad to know we’re going to have an empty place in front of the store”.
Darrell Jupiter, a landscaper, said his best friend was nicknamed “Dweeb” and they fished and played chess together.
In a funeral that was part home-going celebration and part political declaration, Sterling’s family and a slew of speakers said sweet, sorrowful goodbyes while calling for justice.
One mourner wore a T-shirt that said “No Justice, No Peace” and another carried a poster board sign saying “Black America I’m Sorry!”
Bridgewater told investigators his motivation was to sell stolen items for cash, an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives wrote in an affidavit filed Thursday in federal court.
“These particular cases only involve facts where the person arrested failed to comply with an officer’s direction to leave the roadway or public passage”, the District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
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A district attorney says his office won’t be prosecuting more than half of the almost 200 protesters who have been arrested in Baton Rouge since a deadly police shooting last week.
