Landry –worthless, gutless State Attorney General. Photo: Facebook
[Speaking Truth To Power]
Last week, Louisiana killer-cops Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake were cleared by local authorities for murdering Alton Sterling. Meanwhile, protests in California continue over the police murder of Stephon Clark, who an independent autopsy report shows was shot multiple times with at least six bullets in the back.
Black America must realize these nonstop police killings of our people are political sanctioned by the state. The silence of Congress as these killings continue speaks loudly. The demented White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders said the decision not to prosecute Salamoni—who is caught, on video, committing murder—was a “local matter.”
Would it have been a “local matter” if it was the other way around and Sterling had murdered Salamoni and was now not being prosecuted?
All of Black America must utilize every strategy to punish police brutality enablers in politics for their silence. Big business companies must face meaningful economic boycotts. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student David Hogg’s recent Twitter threat led several companies to remove their advertising from Laura Ingraham’s Fox News show after she denigrated victims.
The time has come for more of us to do much more than march and protest.
On Tuesday, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry announced that Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake will not face justice for the murder of 37-year-old Sterling, on July 5, 2016. In doing so, Landry did what political and legal aiders and abettors of killer-cops always do: he blamed Sterling for his own death.
Landry’s report says the incident “involved two officers who had good reason to believe that Mr. Sterling was armed with a firearm and that he was continuously resisting.” The report highlights, in bold print, the words “armed with a firearm.” Here we see the political pattern officials use to criminalize Black victims and exonerate White killer-cops.
Let’s remember this: Louisiana is an “open carry” state. Why is it relevant even if Sterling had a gun since he never made any so-called “furtive” move — the word police departments like using after a Black person is wrongfully killed– to go for that gun? We’ve all seen the video of Sterling being straddled by both officers—with his right hand pinned, by Lake, under a car, as Salamoni sits on his left hand, with a gun pointed at him. Yet, Landry is insinuating the lie that Sterling was about to pull his gun, which he couldn’t have anyway?
What abhorent manner of deep-seated racism is this?
If Sterling had made any move that even hinted at danger, don’t you think the police would have shown the video long ago?
Especially, since they’ve been concealing police videos of the encounter, for two years, that they never acknowledged having? At the time of the killing, we were told the body-cams, of both officers, fell off. We must seriously question whether these videos weren’t edited by police.
We must also ask this: what was Sterling being arrested for anyway? Being Black? Like Tamir Rice, we now know Sterling was shot lethally, in apparently less than two minutes after the police arrived. What offense did Salamoni witness that would justify such an instantaneous decision to make an arrest?
We’re often given grandstanding lectures, especially by right-wingers, about the supposed virtues of the Second Amendment. Gun fanatics extolling the absolutist notion of the Second Amendment are now colliding with the brave students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who have sparked the “enough is enough” movement, against the insane gun violence culture of America.
Landry should answer this question: didn’t Sterling also have a Second Amendment right? Or, is this “right” only reserved for those with White skin?
Salamoni shot Sterling within 90 seconds of encountering him. Almost immediately, Salamoni was threatening to kill Sterling. He is recording saying “Don’t fucking move or I’ll shoot your fucking ass.” What had Sterling done that warranted this threat to his life—which was then carried out except being a Black man?
Landry makes the absurd statement that “both officers acted in a reasonable and justified manner in the shooting death of Mr. Sterling.”
Reasonable to a perverted racist mind perhaps that attaches no value to the life of a Black man.
Shooting a human being within 90 seconds, who was only selling DVD’s, and who only asked why he was being detained, is what Landry calls “reasonable” and “justified?” Moreover, if this murder was so “justified,” why was Officer Salamoni just fired?
If ever there is reason for the federal government to review a case –the murder of Sterling– and the so-called investigation by the state attorney general, this one is picture perfect. You don’t fire someone who did no wrong.
With an attorney general like this—or, Jeff Sessions for that matter—is there any wonder why we witness this perversion of what they call “justice?” Again, here we see how prosecutors use their power to distort real justice and free their killer-cop buddies. As the aunt of Alton Sterling, Sandra Sterling, told Attorney General Landry, “you put a killer back on the streets.”
On MSNBC’s Joy Reid show, Georgetown Law Professor Paul Butler characterized Salamoni’s behavior toward Sterling as “palpitating with hate.” Butler called the killing of Sterling an “act of murder.” Professor Butler described Attorney General Jeff Landry as “gutless,” for refusing to prosecute Salamoni.
Black America must start paying attention to those that are elected prosecutors—who like Landry are 95 percent White. And we must elect White DA’s like current Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who seems to be keep his word to those Blacks voters who helped to elect him.
In California, we see nothing but more of the same in the police murder of 22-year-old Stephon Clark. On Friday, we found out, through an independent autopsy, done by Dr. Bennet Omalu, that Clark was shot eight times—six times in the back. Police fired about 20 shots at Clark, when they murdered him on March 18—in his grandmother’s backyard. Dr. Omalu also pointed out that it took several minutes—perhaps as many as 10 minutes, before Clark died. Imagine, Clark was handcuffed by these killer-cops, after they shot him up.
Reportedly, police had received a call about someone vandalizing cars in the area near Clark’s residence. Initially, police lied by saying Clark was advancing toward them, and they feared he had a gun. Clark had no gun. Police have since tried to criminalize Clark to justify this unjustifiable murder.
In a dark police video, officers are seen firing multiple shots as the deadly encounter unfolds. Apparently, Clark was also shot while he was on his stomach. We should wonder this: how could these officers so recklessly fire all these shots in the dark?
Family lawyer, Benjamin Crump said the independent autopsy proves police are again lying.
“These findings from the independent autopsy contradict the police narrative that we’ve been told,” Crump said. “This independent autopsy affirms that Stephon was not a threat to police and was slain in another senseless police killing under increasingly questionable circumstances.”
Protesters have taken to the streets of Sacramento ever since Clark was murdered. Friday’s independent autopsy has only further enraged protesters and many have pledged to continue marching until officers are held accountable for this murder. In this time of the “me-too” and “enough is enough” movements, the killings and murders of Black Americans, by police, must make us force politicians, corporate America, and the rest of White America to finally address this issue.
Somehow political phonies, who preach to us about the “rule of law,” say nothing when Black people are being killed and murdered by so-called “law enforcement” officers. These killer-cops, like Officer Salamoni, are murderers, period. Why are they being protected?
What does Capitol Hill’s silence tell us?
This year’s mid-term election is fast approaching. Democrats have been busy-bees begging us for money. They will be begging us for our votes soon. So, why aren’t they telling us what they plan to do to stop racist killer-cops? If the Democratic Party refuses to take police brutality serious why should we continue to blindly support them?
Democrats must not be left off the hook, for their role in criminalizing Black people and contributing to police brutality. Democrats, both Black and White, must be compelled to confront police brutality—or, be politically punished, especially in primaries, for not doing so.
Those who are unwilling to fight this murderous injustice must be voted out of Congress.
