Black Lives Matter icon Alton Sterling, who was shot dead by Baton Rouge police while resisting arrest on July 5 was jailed in 2009 for an incident that is almost an exact duplication of his deadly 2016 encounter with police.
Alton Sterling 2009 mug shot via CBS.
WAFB-TV reported late Tuesday night that an investigation by the station unearthed a police report of Sterling’s arrest dated May 29, 2009.
WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge, Louisiana News, Weather, Sports
“The 9News Investigators obtained a police report that details a previous arrest of Alton Sterling that is eerily similar to the incident that ultimately led to his death.
Sterling, 37, was recently killed in a shooting involving two Baton Rouge police officers on July 5.
Sources close to the investigation said that if the killing of Sterling makes it to trial, Sterling’s past record could certainly be introduced.
It turns out Sterling has struggled with police in the past. Documents show, in May 2009, Sterling fought with cops outside of a convenience store on Rosenwald Road, where he was selling CDs, while carrying a gun.
In the report dated May 29, 2009, the officer said he was dispatched to a convenience store after getting a complaint about a subject “on the corner selling CDs” and that the subject had pulled a gun on someone.
According to the officer’s report, when he arrived to the store, he spotted the suspect, who he later identified as Alton Sterling, carrying a crate of CDs.
The officer asked Sterling to put his hand on the hood of his police car and asked if Sterling had any weapons on him. The report says Sterling did “not answer” and as the officer continued to pat him down, Sterling started reaching for his pocket.
The officer went on to say in the report that Sterling suddenly spun around and the two began to struggle. The officer and Sterling hit the ground. The officer said he was able to call for backup as Sterling tried to push him off.
“While wrestling with this subject on the ground a black semi auto hand gun fell from this subject waist band at this time,” the report states.”
Alton Sterling struggles with police moments before he is shot to death, July 5, 2016.
Sterling served two years of five year sentence on charges that were plead down to “illegal carrying of a weapon with a controlled dangerous substance.” If he had served the full five years from when he was sentence on July 19, 2011, Sterling would have been safe behind bars on the day he was killed July 5.
With the exception of CBS News that picked it up from their affiliate WAFB, it appears the national news media is ignoring this new report in the Alton Sterling case.
An early report on the death of Sterling by the New Orleans Times-Picayune included a claim that he was not “that type”.
“Jackson said she felt she knew Sterling well. “He was a good person. He didn’t bother nobody.” That’s why, Banks said, everybody who knew him is finding the story surrounding his death and the events that led up to it so “hard to believe.”
Police said they responded to the Triple S Food Mart after someone called 911 and reported a man threatened him with a gun. He was fatally shot after two officers struggled with him on the ground in front of the store.
“People feel injustice because he wasn’t even that type,” said Banks.
Banks gestured toward the crowd with open hands, as proof of how well-liked he was in the neighborhood. “This is hood love right here,” he said.”
