Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister disagrees with international police union president Sam Cabral’s assessment that Alton Sterling’s actions—and his actions alone—determined the fatal outcome of his encounter with Baton Rouge Police Officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II on the night of July 5, 2016.
“Sorry, Mr. Cabral, but it’s not that simple,” McCollister writes in his latest column. “In fact, I will point out that many who saw the videos and listened to the audio didn’t see it that way at all. You are a union boss who protects the ‘brotherhood,’ so what else would you say?”
Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul also didn’t see the incident the way Cabral does, McCollister notes. The chief, after all, fired Salamoni and suspended Lake for three days—decisions Cabral claims were based on politics.
“Isn’t that the card the police unions are playing? It seems most saw what they wanted to see on the recently released body cam videos to support an already determined conclusion—and the public is divided,” McCollister writes. “For different reasons, most feel the death of Alton Sterling could have been avoided.”
Despite what you feel about the victim or law enforcement, McCollister says you should be concerned about what you see in the police body cam videos and audio documenting the incident, and about how the case was handled and justice was—or was not—served.
“I was shocked watching the body cam videos and seeing the contrast between how Lake spoke to Sterling compared to the immediate and extremely aggressive tone Salamoni used the second he got out of his car,” he writes. “If that didn’t quickly escalate the situation, putting a gun to Sterling’s head certainly did. It didn’t appear to me that Sterling was looking for trouble that night but it sure looked like Salamoni was determined to create some.”
The videos and audio of the incident, recently publicly released, left McCollister with several questions, opinions and observations. Among them:
- Why didn’t Salamoni try to de-escalate the situation or call for more back up? “It was like he had to prove something … and lost control,” McCollister says.
- McCollister calls talk of Sterling’s criminal record a “bogus issue,” as the officers “didn’t know that when they arrived at the scene, making it irrelevant to the events that unfolded in the parking lot.”
- Video of Sterling in the parking lot prior to the officers arrival shows no erratic or troubling behavior, McCollister notes, adding that even Lake is reasonably calm when he first approaches Sterling. “So why such aggressive treatment by Salamoni?”
- The incident should never have taken almost two years to investigate at all levels, McCollister says. “That was absurd.”
McCollister goes on to write, “Do police have a tough job? Absolutely. Do most officers do a good job in serving the public? I truly believe that. Do we have problems with our system—and some officers—and need reform? Absolutely. It’s been overdue—but it won’t be easy.”
As for Attorney General Jeff Landry, McCollister says he should be embarrassed by the how he handled the case. Landry decided not to bring charges against either officer.
“Everyone predicted the outcome from his office,” McCollister writes. “Though supposedly examining this case under our state criminal code, he just seemed to rely on the federal government’s conclusion and bailed out … After seeing the video he certainly had cause to present the case to a grand jury. What he did here exposed Landry as just a politician, not a prosecutor.”
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