THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THEY ARE CLOSING
THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE TWO BATON ROUGE POLICE OFFICERS WHO
WERE INVOLVED IN THE DEATH OF ALTON STERLING LAST YEAR.
BASICALLY, HE WAS SHOT MULTIPLE TIMES, EXCUSE ME, HE WAS SHOT
MULTIPLE TIMES, HE WAS IMMOBILE, THEY WERE PINNING HIM DOWN,
THEY CLAIMED HE HAD A GUN.
TAKE A LOOK AT THE VIDEO HERE.
[CENSORED]
HE'S GOT A GUN!
GUN!
HEY BRO, POLICE.
GET ON THE GROUND!!
[GUNSHOTS]
SHOTS FIRED, SHOTS FIRED.
SO THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SAID THEY WILL NOT BE BRINGING
CHARGES TO THOSE TWO POLICE OFFICERS, AND BY THE POLICE
ACCOUNT, OFFICERS BLANE SALAMONI AND HOWIE LAKE SAW STERLING, 37,
OUTSIDE A CONVENIENCE STORE IN JULY AFTER IT WAS REPORTED THAT
A MAN HAD THREATENED SOMEONE THERE WITH A GUN.
STERLING, WHO WAS SELLING CDS, THAT THIS AND OF THE MAN.
BOTH OFFICERS HAD BODY CAMERAS, BUT THE CAMERAS WERE
REPORTEDLY DISLODGED.
THE US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WILL NOT PRESS CIVIL CHARGES
AGAINST THE OFFICERS INVOLVED IN THE SHOOTING, WHICH LEAVES IT UP
TO LOCAL CHARGES.
OBVIOUSLY AFTER THE SHOOTING, THE VIDEO WENT VIRAL, THERE
WERE A LOT OF PROTESTS IN THE COMMUNITY AROUND THE
CONVENIENCE STORE, AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
SO OFFICIALS ARE FEARING THAT THIS NEWS THAT THEY ARE NOT
GOING TO PRESS CHARGES MIGHT HAVE CONSEQUENCES IN THE SIMILAR
VEIN, WHERE PROTESTS WERE ñ WHERE PROTESTS WILL ERUPT.
A LOT OF SCHOOLS ARE NOTIFYING PARENTS OF THEIR PLAN, IF
PROTESTS DO ERUPT, IN BATON ROUGE.
THE CASE WILL BE THE FIRST TIME UNDER ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF
SESSIONS THAT THE DEPARTMENT HAS PUBLICLY DECLINED TO
PROSECUTE OFFICERS INVESTIGATED FOR POSSIBLE WRONGDOING IN
A HIGH-PROFILE CASE.
THIS ISN'T A SURPRISE, SINCE SESSIONS HAS ALSO OFFERED A
TACIT ENDORSEMENT OF WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE FERGUSON EFFECT,
WHICH REFERS TO THE CONTESTED IDEA THAT POLICE MIGHT BE AFRAID
TO GET OUT OF THEIR CARS AND ENFORCE THE LAW FOR FEAR OF
ENDING UP ON A VIRAL VIDEO.
NOW, OBVIOUSLY THIS IS AWFUL.
THAT VIDEO IS HORRENDOUS, AND NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU HAVE
SEEN IT I THINK IT SHAKES YOU TO YOUR CORE, AND I THINK THIS IS
JUST ANOTHER INSTANCE OF OUR GOVERNMENT TELLING PEOPLE THAT
BLACK LIVES DON'T MATTER, AND THIS IS REALLY UNFORTUNATE,
AND SORT OF GIVING A GO-AHEAD FOR POLICE TO MAKE THESE
SPLIT DECISIONS WITHOUT FACING ANY REAL REPERCUSSIONS.
YEAH, IT SUCKS.
JEFF SESSIONS IS SOMEONE THAT I PERSONALLY DO NOT WANT IN CHARGE
OF DICTATING THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENDA OF THE ENTIRE
NATION, AND YET THIS IS THE FIRST TIME HE HAS HAD TO
FACE THIS KIND OF DECISION.
HE HAS MORE COMING DOWN THE PIKE, ERIC GARNER, TAMIR
RICE, AND THERE WAS A 15-YEAR-OLD KID IN DALLAS
WHO GOT SHOT BY THE POLICE, AND THE POLICE CHANGED THEIR STORY.
THAT WAS THE SAME THING, WHEN YOU LOOK AT A STORY LIKE
THIS THAT IS SWIRLING AROUND IN THE ETHER AND YOU THINK,
WHAT CAN I DO?
KEEP UP THE PRESSURE ON SOCIAL MEDIA, TAKE TO THE STREETS
AND MARCH, I MEAN THERE HAVE BEEN SPONTANEOUS MARCHES
TODAY BECAUSE OF THIS.
AND I GENUINELY DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW ñ I MEAN, LOOK, LET ME START
OFF BY SAYING THIS: WE TALK ABOUT WHAT PRIVILEGE SOMETIMES,
HOW IT'S ALMOST LIKE A TRIGGER WORD FOR A LOT OF ALT-RIGHT
PEOPLE WHO HATE WATCH OUR SHOW, BUT THE REALITY IS, JEFF
SESSIONS IS NEVER GOING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE FOR A
BLACK CITIZEN TO WALK THE STREETS, AND HOW FEARFUL THEY
ARE OF POLICE OFFICERS, BECAUSE JEFF SESSIONS IS AN OLD WHITE
GUY WHO IS KIND OF RACIST, GREW UP IN A SMALL TOWN
PROBABLY, AND HE DIDN'T HAVE TO EXPERIENCE THAT SORT OF SYSTEMIC
RACISM AT ALL IN ANY POINT OF HIS LIFE, SO THAT'S WHAT HE
CAN LOOK AT THIS ISSUE AND THINK OF IT FROM A POLICE PERSPECTIVE.
BUT THE REALITY IS ñ AND WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS OVER AND OVER
AND OVER AGAIN ñ THERE'S JUST SIMPLY NO ACCOUNTABILITY, AND IF
WE ARE COSTLY TALK ABOUT THE ARGUMENT OF WHETHER THIS IS A
BLACK LIVES MATTER VERSUS ALL LIVES MATTER ARGUMENT, RATHER
THAN JUST THIS DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES, AND EXCESSIVE
USE OF FORCE THAT LEADS TO THE DEATHS OF UNARMED BLACK
PEOPLE AT A RATE THAT IS FIVE TIMES HIGHER THAN WHITE
PEOPLE, THERE IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM THAT WE NEED TO
TALK ABOUT, BUT INSTEAD WE ARE JUST TALKING ABOUT THE ARGUMENT.
I THINK YOU ARE RIGHT, IT IS EXCESSIVE FORCE, AND YOU
CAN TELL THAT FROM THE VIDEO, AND CONSTITUTIONALLY THERE
ARE ACTUALLY TWO INSTANCES WHERE POLICE CAN USE EXCESSIVE
FORCE AND SHOOT TO KILL.
FOR CIRCUMSTANCES TO PROTECT THEIR LIFE OR THE LIFE OF
ANOTHER INNOCENT PARTY, AND THE SECOND CIRCUMSTANCE IS TO
PREVENT A SUSPECT FROM ESCAPING, BUT ONLY IF THE OFFICER HAS
PROBABLE CAUSE TO THINK THAT THE SUSPECT POSES A DANGEROUS
THREAT.
YOU CAN SEE IN THE VIDEO, FROM THAT INSTANCE, ALTON STERLING
WAS NOT BEING A PROBABLE THREAT, SO IT LOOKS LIKE FROM THE VIDEO
THAT THESE POLICE OFFICERS DID SOMETHING THAT THEY SHOULD
NOT DO.
THEY HAD TO REACH INTO THE GUY'S CARGO SHORT POCKET TO GET THE
"GUN," BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT IS HAPPENING AT THE END OF THE
VIDEO, HE REACHES INTO HIS POCKET AND PULLED OUT SOME SORT
OF ñ ARTICLE, SUPPOSEDLY THEY GONE, AND IF A POLICE OFFICER
WAS TO MAKE THAT ARGUMENT, I WOULD THINK THAT THE GUN WOULD
HAVE TO BE OUT, AND ñ OR THAT HE WAS ABLE TO REACH FOR IT EASILY.
I THINK WHAT HAPPENED IS, THEY HAD HIM PINNED DOWN, AN OFFICER
DISCOVERED A GUN, YELLED HE HAS A GUN, ANYBODY LOST THEIR SHIT
AND ESCALATED IT, EVEN THOUGH OWNING A GUN IN BATON ROUGE
IS LEGAL.
AND WHETHER IT WAS THE ONE COP HITTING THE OTHER COP WITH HIS
GUN WHILE HE WAS DIRECTLY HOLDING DOWN THIS MAN.
GO AHEAD.
THE LEGAL AMBIGUITY IS WHAT,
ESSENTIALLY THE CRUX OF THE
ISSUE.
IT IS LEGAL AMBIGUITY, YOU CAN'T TELL IF THE OFFICER
GENUINELY FELT THREATENED, OR IF THE OFFICER GENUINELY
THOUGHT THAT THIS PERSON WAS WHEN YOU POSE A THREAT TO
OTHERS IF THEY ESCAPED.
SO, THAT IS A MASSIVE PART OF THIS PROBLEM, IS THAT IT IS
WRITTEN INTO THE LEGISLATION.
BUT WHAT I'M SAYING IS, WE DON'T HAVE ANY SORT OF ACCOUNTABILITY.
WE DON'T HAVE BODY CAMS FOR ALL UNITS, AND EVEN IF WE DID,
THEY STILL GET DISLODGED, OR PRECINCTS WILL HOLD ONTO
THE FOOTAGE UNTIL THEY DEEM THEY CAN RELEASE CERTAIN PARTS OF IT.
THAT HAPPENS PRETTY FREQUENTLY.
WITHOUT ANY LAYER OF ACCOUNTABILITY, WITHOUT
INDEPENDENT REVIEW BOARDS, FOR EXAMPLE, WITHOUT ANY SORT OF NEW
EDUCATION, WITHOUT INCLUSIVITY, THIS PROBLEM IS GOING TO
CONTINUE TO PERSIST.
YEAH.
AND THE FEDERAL LEVEL IS THE HOPE, BECAUSE A LOT OF TIMES, IF
IT GOES BACK TO THE SAME REGION WHERE THESE POLICE OFFICERS COME
FROM, THEN THE ATTORNEYS THAT THESE POLICE OFFICERS DEAL WITH
EVERY DAY, IN ORDER TO, IN MANY CASES DEAL WITH EVERY DAY IN
ORDER TO PROSECUTE WHAT THE POLICE OFFICERS HAVE ARRESTED ñ
IT'S A LAW AND ORDER, THERE'S THE POLICE OFFICERS, AND THEN
THE LAWYERS, THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY, SO THERE IS AN
INHERENT POSSIBLE CONFLICT OF INTEREST, BECAUSE THESE
PEOPLE HAVE TO WORK WITH EACH OTHER, HAVE WORKED WITH
EACH OTHER BEFORE, AND HAVE TO AFTER.
NOW, IT'S NOT OVER, THIS IS NOT SAID AND DONE, WHILE THE FEDERAL
JUSTICE SYSTEM HAS DECIDED THEY ARE NOT GOING TO PURSUE IT, IT
GOES BACK TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT, SO THERE IS ANOTHER
ROUND WHERE THIS COULD POTENTIALLY FIND THE KIND OF
SOLUTION THAT A LOT OF US ARE LOOKING FOR.
AND ONE MORE THING ABOUT THE ACCOUNTABILITY: THE LOGIC
THAT IS USED BY JEFF SESSIONS, AND OTHER LAW AND ORDER
JUSTICE ADVOCATES WHO SAY THAT THERE ñ WHEN THEY ARE
SAYING, WE DON'T WANT TO HOLD THE POLICE ACCOUNTABLE,
YOUR ARGUMENT ALL DAY, EVERY DAY IS, WE NEED HIGHER PUNISHMENTS
FOR CRIMINALS TO DETER THEM FROM DOING NEGATIVE ACTS.
AND SO YOU NEED TO HAVE THE SAME KIND OF ACCOUNTABILITY FOR LAW
ENFORCEMENT TO DETER THEM FROM DOING
THE SAME KIND OF NEGATIVE
ACTS.