One mourner wore a T-shirt that said “No Justice, No Peace”.
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Sterling’s death heightened tensions in Baton Rouge, where about 200 protesters were arrested over the weekend, but the city remained calm Friday night.
District Attorney Hillar Moore, III announced Friday that his office has reviewed reports for those arrested during protests in Baton Rouge and will not seek formal charges for 100 out of the 185 of the cases.
The ACLU has sued Baton Rouge police and other law enforcement over the police treatment of demonstrators, saying officers were violently aggressive and showed little restraint and poor judgment in terms of who they arrested.
All people do indeed have the right to assemble and protest – but that right is not respected when our police declare peaceful assemblies unlawful, or arrest people on trumped-up “obstruction” charges for placing a single toe on the side of the road.
Protesters who have repeated offenses or were arrested on counts of assault, resisting arrest or violent acts will still face prosecution in the 19th Judicial District courts, the release says.
“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.
Among those who will not be prosecuted is DeRay Mckesson, a leading figure in the call for police reform who has risen to national prominence with the increasing visibility of the Black Lives Matter movement.
A black man killed in front of a Louisiana store has been remembered as the “meaning of southern hospitality” whose death at the hands of two white police officers “woke up Baton Rouge and America”. His death, along with another fatal police shooting in Minnesota last week, sparked widespread protests.
The president replied, “The thing you expressed, Cameron, is what I meant when I said the country’s not as divided as it seems”.
Abdullah Muflahi, the owner of the Triple S Food Mart where Sterling was shot and killed, says Sterling wasn’t just a man who sold CDs in front of his store, he was a friend.
Alton Sterling’s funeral took place Friday in Louisiana.
He said he sympathized with police but even so, he thinks Sterling’s killing was unjust, based on video footage of the incident he watched on television.
Sterling’s death was captured on cellphone video and circulated widely on the internet.
Another speaker, Chauna Banks from the Baton Rouge Metro Council, told the crowd that Sterling’s blood cries out for justice.
Al Sharpton spoke in Baton Rouge to praise the African-American community for holding their heads high “with great dignity” despite the tragedies that have occurred as of late. Alton Sterling was shot July 5 outside a Baton Rouge conven.
Sterling was fatally shot by two white officers who pinned him to the ground outside a convenience store.
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A public viewing was scheduled between 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. CDT at Southern University in Baton Rouge followed later in the day by a funeral service. Obama created the program to help minority males stay on the right path.
