Originally Posted by
0ddl0t
Tech N9ne addressing Sterling's criminal history:
"What [Alton Sterling] had on, was what me and my homeboys, in our blood neighborhood, grew up wearing. Red t-shirt, khaki shorts. We fit the description. They talked about Alton Sterling, like ‘Well, he was a bad guy. He had priors.’ I was too. I was a dope dealer, I was a gang banger, I was a shoplifter, I was a drug user. But now…Forbes List four times, own a label, leading an army of Technicians… people change. You put me on a pedestal. Just don’t write him off because he had priors, because we all had priors. But people change. So I say ‘What if it was me?’ You love me. Would it mean anything to you if it was me?”
Yes, Sterling resisted arrest. But officer Salamoni also handled the situation atrociously. Sterling wound up dead, Salamoni fired. And for the record, no altercation matching the anonymous 911 caller's (slurred) description was depicted on the CCTV.
I think people would see police interactions with Alton Sterling -- and Harith Augustus -- a little differently if viewed from the Libertarian position of "all free US citizens have a 2nd amendment right to arms" - especially given the racial undertones of gun control's origins. Both Sterling and Augustus contributed to their own deaths by reacting the way they did, but the confrontational/disrespectful way police approached each "black man with gun" was disgusting. From the getgo they were treated as perps, not citizens.
For its part, the black community would be much better served by initially focusing on the injustices committed against the most upstanding citizens, like they did when waiting for someone like Rosa Parks for their bus boycott. There are plenty of examples:
John McNeil: Black homeown shoots & kills a charging white man with known violent history (in front of witnesses!) Police cleared him, but the DA charged & convicted him of murder. He won his appeal 6 years later, but wound up pleading to time served to avoid the DA retrying. This case contrasts nicely with that of Harold Fish.
Philando Castile: Black CCWer shot during traffic stop while reaching for ID. Officer Yanez was tried & acquitted and then paid to resign.
Corey Jones: Black CCWer waiting for a tow truck shot by plainclothes officer. Officer Raja - a police academy instructor - was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 25 years in large part due to the incident being captured in a recording of Jones' call to roadside assistance (proving that Officer Raja lied repeatedly, including never identified himself)
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