Several law enforcement agencies are investigating the threat, including Louisiana State Police, the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
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Last weekend, approximately 200 people were arrested in Baton Rouge during protests surrounding the death of Alton Sterling who was fatally shot by local police July 5.
Surveillance video shows the suspects using a ladder to climb to the roof of the building, where they broke into the pawn shop, police said. The incident, Dunn said, resulted in a broken eye socket and other injuries, the newspaper reported.
Officers in Baton Rouge said that they saw a gun in Sterling’s pocket and also say they saw him reach for the weapon, according to a police affidavit.
Neither Dunn nor his lawyer, James Williams, have yet filed a lawsuit.
The groups allege that authorities used excessive force, carried out mass arrests and verbally and physically abused protesters.
Police said they beefed up their presence in Baton Rouge due to the “very real and viable threats to law enforcement” in the area following the officer-involved shooting death of Alton Sterling last week, which has sparked dozens of anti-police brutality protests across the nation.
While police have defended their actions as necessary, protesters have questioned the tactics of law enforcement, and Amnesty International said the number of arrests in Baton Rouge “raises serious questions about proportionate response to peaceful protests”. Police had received a call claiming a man was outside the store threatening the caller with a gun.
“They need to take the first step to heal the damage and they’re not going to do that by showing up in riot gear picking a fight with people at the end of a protest”, she added.
Cameron Sterling urged those demonstrating against police brutality to “protest in peace, not guns”, on Wednesday as he spoke to reporters for the first time.
– Law enforcement officers gave contradictory and confusing orders to protesters and then arrested them when they didn’t comply. Everyone needs to protest the right way.
A spokesman for the police said they do not comment on pending litigation and the state police said they were still reviewing the suit.
In a statement Monday, Landry said he won’t have access to details of the federal investigation of Sterling’s shooting until it’s completed and a decision has been made on potential federal charges. At least two of the legal observers were arrested.
In addition to BRPD, defendants are the City of Baton Rouge; Police Chief Carl Dabadie, Jr., Louisiana Department of Public Safety; Louisiana State Police and Col. Michael Edmonson, the superintendent of State Police; East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Sid J. Gautreaux III; Mayor President Kip Holden; and District Attorney Hillar C. Moore, III.
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On Wednesday, Sterling’s 15-year-old son spoke out for the first time, calling Sterling a good man and asking people not to resort to violence after his father’s death.
