Two White police officers won’t be charged in the 2016 shooting death of Alton Sterling, the Louisiana attorney general said Tuesday.
In July 2016, Baton Rouge police officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II responded to a 911 call about a man standing outside a convenience store holding a gun.
Cellphone footage showed Salamoni getting into a struggle with Sterling, who was in the parking lot of the store selling CDs when he shot and killed the 37-year old after wrestling him to the ground.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said that the officers tried “several non-lethal techniques” when dealing with Sterling.
“The Louisiana Department of Justice cannot proceed with a prosecution of either Officer Lake or either Officer Salamoni,” Landry said. “We came to this conclusion after reviewing countless hours of evidence.”
Sterling’s aunt, Vida Sterling, was seen outside the attorney general’s office before the official statement was made, BuzzFeed reports.
“He was murdered by two White racist police officers. He was murdered like an animal,” she said. “They say they didn’t see anything wrong. I can’t understand it.”
Alton Sterling aunt, Veda Sterling, says the AG will not charge officers involved in this case @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/ndc4jiNLwB
— Danielle Jackson (@DJacksonTV) March 27, 2018
The news comes 10 months after the U.S. Justice Department declined to charge the two cops, citing “insufficient evidence.”