A disturbing video of a Louisiana man shot to death while pinned down by police has set off a wave of protests

[Canorth]

Alton Sterling, a black man who sold CDs outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was shot and killed by two police officers after they pinned him down to the ground at 12:35am on Tuesday (July 5). The incident was captured by a bystander on a smartphone video. Officers can be heard yelling “He’s got a gun! Gun!” while Sterling is restrained.

 

The store owner, who witnessed the shooting, told the Baton Rouge Advocate that the police were aggressive, and the man did not appear to be holding a gun or touching his pockets. He said they did retrieve a gun from Sterling’s pocket after they shot him. Sterling, a 37-year-old father of five, died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back. According to The Guardian, he was the 558th person to be killed by US police in 2016.

 

Video Link

 

Warning: The video is very disturbing

 

http://qz.com/724439/a-disturbing-video-of-a-man-shot-to-death-as-he-was-pinned-by-police-has-set-off-a-wave-of-protest/

 

[Screw]

Did someone say "he's got a gun!" at 0:26??

 

It looked messed up.

[AriGold]

Terrible what happened to that young man... Sad to say this is in their culture, It needs to change from the bottom to the top, not the other way around.

 

[Canuckfan_Brett]

Disturbing, I have a friend who lives in that area.  Things were already tense between a large poor African American community (close to 80% in Baton Rouge) and everyone else.  He said it's boiling over right now

[YEGCanuck]

Poorly trained, overly aggressive cops can make for a deadly combination. This is a systemic problem throughout North America.

[SaintPatrick33]

That officer straight up executed the guy after he was already on subdued on the ground. Firing four bullets in the chest, disgusting display of "law enforcement" here. This is the new age of military tough guy police running rampant in America. Use communication skills instead of a gun, #%T(*)& sick!

[ShakyWalton]

That is basically cold blooded murder..nothing less.

[Canorth]

18 minutes ago, AriGold said:

Terrible what happened to that young man... Sad to say this is in their culture, It needs to change from the bottom to the top, not the other way around.

 

 

"None of the numbers are supported by official sources. The figures on black-on-white homicides and white-on-white homicides are wildly inaccurate. And, as several news organizations quickly noted, the "Crime Statistics Bureau" doesn’t exist. We looked for that agency as well and the closest we found in San Francisco were a number of crime scene clean-up services."

 

http://qz.com/556988/here-are-four-charts-on-race-and-murder-in-america-to-tweet-back-at-donald-trump/

 

 

 

 

 

[Sean Monahan]

11 minutes ago, YEGCanuck said:

Poorly trained, overly aggressive cops can make for a deadly combination. This is a systemic problem throughout North America.

Uhhh, how often do you see this in Canada? Like never? American policing to Canadian policing is apples to oranges. The hiring process and training is exponentially more rigorous in Canada compared to the US. 

 

 

[etsen3]

Of course the body cameras "just happened" to fall off during the struggle. 

[Toews]

23 minutes ago, AriGold said:

Terrible what happened to that young man... Sad to say this is in their culture, It needs to change from the bottom to the top, not the other way around.

 

Another damaging effect of Trump's idiotic campaign, the fact that people actually think that image he tweeted is legitimate.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

21 minutes ago, YEGCanuck said:

Poorly trained, overly aggressive cops can make for a deadly combination. This is a systemic problem throughout North America.

Is it really?  I don't agree.  I would agree it's a systematic problem throughout the USA, but I don't think it's the case in Canada, or most Caribbean countries.  Mexico has it's own issues with violence, police are surely a part of it, but not because of under training and overt aggression.  In Canada we often charge police with murder when they commit murder...like the cops did in this case.  Our laws and punishment are definitely not as aggressive regrading murder though.  The USA has a serious problem with police violence and a deteriorating level of freedom as the military industrial complex creeps further and further into law enforcement.

[DIBdaQUIB]

8 minutes ago, Wild Sean Monahan said:

Uhhh, how often do you see this in Canada? Like never? American policing to Canadian policing is apples to oranges. The hiring process and training is exponentially more rigorous in Canada compared to the US. 

 

 

Let's not bee too smug...the tazering to-death of an unarmed man in Vancouver by four RCMP because he had a stapler in his hand/ ...the execution of the kid on the Toronto street car who was alone with only a knife and surrounded by police?  Ring any bells?

 

[Sean Monahan]

1 minute ago, DIBdaQUIB said:

Let's not bee too smug...the tazering to-death of an unarmed man in Vancouver by four RCMP because he had a stapler in his hand/ ...the execution of the kid on the Toronto street car who was alone with only a knife and surrounded by police?  Ring any bells?

 

It happens, but these incidents are few and far between and not racially motivated like I believe YEG was insinuating. It's not a "systemic" issue here in Canada. You've mentioned two incidents spanning what, nearly ten years? Even when you consider the greater population down south you really can't compare the two countries and their policing. 

[DIBdaQUIB]

Just now, Wild Sean Monahan said:

It happens, but these incidents are few and far between and not racially motivated like I believe YEG was insinuating. It's not a "systemic" issue here in Canada. You've mentioned two incidents spanning what, nearly ten years? Even when you consider the greater population down south you really can't compare the two countries and their policing. 

My response was to your claim that this 'never' happens in Canada.  I di I not say the USA does not have a systemic problem with violence involving police.

 

It is always dangerous to place too much faith in those with special powers.  Plenty of examples of Canadian police over-stepping their authority and in some cases, abusing people . 

[riffraff]

Disgusting cowardice.

 

his poor children with so much less hope now.  Black in America with no Father.  Murdered by police.

 

 

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

35 minutes ago, AriGold said:

Terrible what happened to that young man... Sad to say this is in their culture, It needs to change from the bottom to the top, not the other way around.

 

A trumped up Trump tweet.  These numbers are made up and are not from the Crime Statistics Bureau - San Fransisco

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/fact-checking-donald-trump-questionable-statistics-tweet-article-1.2443285

 

Quote

The image itself is based off phony numbers. While it's cited from San Francisco's "Crime Statistics Bureau" as data from 2015, the city's annual police reports end at 2014and do not break down homicides by race. A San Francisco police spokesperson told the Daily News the department "did not release this information" and are "not sure where their stats came from."

This next quote is extremely true.

Quote

when you make up "facts" to fill a racist narrative, it's racist...not hard to put that together

I agree the culture needs to change though.

[Sean Monahan]

1 minute ago, DIBdaQUIB said:

My response was to your claim that this 'never' happens in Canada.  I di I not say the USA does not have a systemic problem with violence involving police.

 

It is always dangerous to place too much faith in those with special powers.  Plenty of examples of Canadian police over-stepping their authority and in some cases, abusing people . 

Never was a poor choice of words. I just have issue seeing people compare Canadian policing to American when these incidents happen. Also, FWIW, the taser is meant to be a non-lethal use of force- not really akin to executing a man at point blank range like we saw in this case. 

 

As for your last sentence...that's fair. I don't think it's really fair to expect absolute perfection of police officers. A very, very high standard sure, but perfection is unrealistic. They're human beings being selected/hired by other human beings. The people in charge of hiring are going to miss some things despite some very stringent standards, testing, examination, etc. and you will see some bad seeds fall through the cracks. All in all Canada does a pretty good job in their selection process and, IMO, the people you see bantering about how "you should feel safe when you see police, not scared" in Canada are a bunch of morons. 

[jono2009]

When will these incidents stop?

[Canorth]

11 minutes ago, DIBdaQUIB said:

Let's not bee too smug...the tazering to-death of an unarmed man in Vancouver by four RCMP because he had a stapler in his hand/ ...the execution of the kid on the Toronto street car who was alone with only a knife and surrounded by police?  Ring any bells?

 

A couple of instances over how long? Compared to:

 

"he was the 558th person to be killed by US police in 2016."

http://qz.com/724439/a-disturbing-video-of-a-man-shot-to-death-as-he-was-pinned-by-police-has-set-off-a-wave-of-protest/

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Not really a comparison IMO