The Baton Rouge Police Killing
THE news reports of the shooting last week of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge show shocking police brutality. These reports appear to be reliable. Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was selling pirated DVDs outside of a convenience store when he was accosted by police. When he attempted to reach into his pocket, one of the officers said he had a gun and another shot him in the chest, killing him. The owner of the store recorded the shooting on his cell phone. See The Daily Mail’s latest account here; police have seized the CCTV video from the store. (Warning: graphic images.) While Black Lives Matter is manipulated by those who care nothing about improving life for blacks, it also represents real grievances. Murderous police tactics have become increasingly common in America. If the reports are true, this is a case of police savagery. Five other men, all black, have been killed by police in the Louisiana city since 2013. In the history of the Baton Rouge police department, over the course of more than 100 years, 10 police officers have been killed by gunfire.
[Update: Here’s a reported breakdown of police killings for the year. White males comprise the largest group by far, though blacks are disproportionately represented among victims, which is not surprising given their higher rates of gun violence.]



