July 07, 2016 

By Mike Kunzelman and Melinda Deslatte 

Associated Press 

In a swift move by authorities to keep tensions from boiling over, the U.S. Justice Department laun­ched a civil rights investigation Wednesday into the video-recorded killing of a black man who was shot as he scuffled with two white police officers on the pavement outside a convenience store.

 

A law enforcement official said a gun was taken from 37-year-old Alton Sterling after he was killed early Tuesday in the parking lot where he regularly sold homemade music CDs from a folding table. The official was not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

But it was not clear from the murky cellphone footage whether Sterling had the gun in his hand or was reaching for it when he was shot. And a witness said he saw police pull a gun from Sterling's pocket after the shooting.

 

The shooting in the Louisiana capital — and the shocking video that soon found its way all over the Internet — set off angry protests in the city’s black community and brought calls for an outside investigation. It came at a time when law enforcement officers across the country are under close scrutiny over what some see as indiscriminate use of deadly force against blacks.

 

Moving quickly just one day after the shooting, Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards asked the Justice Department to take the lead in the investigation.

 

“I have very serious concerns. The video is disturbing, to say the least,” the governor said at a news conference.

 

Edwards also met with black community leaders to reassure them about the investigation and to ask their help in keeping protests peaceful. He expressed hope that once the community sees that the shooting is “going to be investigated impartially, professionally and thoroughly” by the Justice Department, “the tensions will ease.”

 

Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. said that Sterling was armed — Dabadie didn’t specify the type of weapon — but that there are still questions about what happened.

 

“Like you, there is a lot that we do not understand. And at this point, like you, I am demanding answers,” Dabadie said, calling the shooting a “horrible tragedy.”

 

Sterling was confronted by police after an anonymous caller reported being threatened by someone with gun outside the store, authorities said.

 

In the cellphone video taken by a community activist and posted online, one of the officers tackled Sterling, and the two officers pinned him to the pavement.

 

Someone yelled, “He’s got a gun! Gun!” and one officer pulled his weapon from his holster. After some shouting, what sounded like a gunshot could be heard. The camera pulled away before more shots were heard.

 

The officers, identified by the chief as Blane Salamoni, a four-year member of the department, and Howie Lake II, who has been on the force for three years, were placed on administrative leave, standard department procedure.

 

Authorities would not say whether one or both fired their weapons or how many times.

 

The store owner, Abdullah Muflahi, told The Advocate newspaper that Sterling was not holding a gun during the shooting but that he saw officers remove one from his pocket afterward. Muflahi said an officer fired four to six shots into Sterling's chest.

 

Hundreds protested Tuesday night, and demonstrators gathered again on Wednesday.

 

Quinyetta McMillon, the mother of Sterling’s teenage son, trembled as she read a statement outside City Hall, where a few dozen protesters and community leaders had assembled. Her son, Cameron, 15, broke down in tears and was led away sobbing as his mother spoke.

 

She described Sterling as “a man who simply tried to earn a living to take care of his children.

 

“The individuals involved in his murder took away a man with children who depended upon their daddy on a daily basis,” she said.

 

A cousin of Sterling’s, Sharida Sterling, said he had been selling music there for about six years, often lugging his box of CDs, table and folding chair on two buses to get to the store.

 

Sharida Sterling said that the store management never had any problems with him but that he was often harassed by police — she suspected because he was black and a “big guy.”

 

“I don’t want them to get away with a slap on the wrist because it could happen to somebody else’s brother,” she said.

 

In announcing the Justice Department investigation, the governor was accompanied by black Democrats from Baton Rouge who praised him and others for quickly asking the federal government to get involved.

 

“We know there’s going to be an external investigation. I think it makes all the difference in the world,” said state Sen. Regina Barrow.

 

The governor and police chief urged calm, and Mayor Kip Holden likewise sought to ease tensions, saying, “We have a wound right now, but we’ll be making the city and parish whole again.”

 

Baton Rouge, a city of about 229,000, is 54 percent black, according to census data, and more than 25 percent of its people live in poverty.

 

Police said they have dash-cam video, bodycam video and store surveillance footage of the shooting that will be turned over to the Justice Department.

 

But Lt. Jonny Dunnam said the bodycam footage may not be as good as investigators hoped for because the cameras became dislodged during the scuffle.

 

That raises serious questions, said Marjorie Esman, executive director of the Louisiana ACLU. “Right when they’re needed most is when two of them malfunction in the same way,” she said.

 

The Justice Department will look into whether the officers willfully violated Sterling’s civil rights through the use of unreasonable or excessive force.

 

Similar investigations, which often take many months, were opened after Michael Brown’s shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, and following Eric Garner’s chokehold death in New York City.

 

Federal investigators must meet a high legal burden to bring a civil rights prosecution, establishing that an officer knowingly used unreasonable force under the circumstances and did not simply make a mistake or use poor judgment.

 

The man who claimed to have shot the cellphone footage, Arthur Reed, said his company, Stop the Killing Inc., makes documentary-style videos about killings in Baton Rouge.

 

“We look at ourselves as being a service to the community,” Reed said.

 

Protesters and friends created a memorial to Sterling at the spot where he sold CDs.

 

Mufleh Alatiyat, an employee of the store, said Sterling often gave away CDs or petty cash or bought food or drink for some people.

 

“He was a very nice guy,” he said. “He helped a lot of people.”

 

Associated Press writers Rebecca Santana and Kevin McGill in New Orleans contributed to this story.

June 30, 2016 

By Kimberlee Buck 

Contributing Writer 

 

It has been over 80 days since 36-year-old Wakeisha Wilson was found dead in a Los Angeles County jail cell and 80 days of unanswered questions regarding Wilson’s suicide.

 

When the Sentinel last spoke to Wilson’s family attorney Jaaye Person-Lynn, he was waiting to see the video footage that shows the events that took place prior to her death. But there is a hold on the video footage and Wilson’s autopsy report. 

 

According to the LAPD April 12 news release, the Metropolitan Detention Center found Wilson lying on the floor unconscious and not breathing.

 

“The two biggest factors are that she died from strangulation and she was found on the floor. To find someone hanging from something, that makes sense that they died from strangulation but to find them lying on the floor, that does not mean she died from strangulation if it was suicide. It does make sense if it were a homicide. If it was in fact a homicide we need to know the circumstances and the perpetrator of the homicide needs to be brought to justice.”

 

The release also states, the Force Investigation Division is conducting an in-depth investigation on Wilson’s death to determine if the officers complied with LAPD procedures and policies. After the Division completes their investigation they will present their findings to the Chief of Police and the Board of Police Commissioners.

 

After waiting over two months for the footage, Attorney Person-Lynn is concerned that by the time he receives the footage, it will be tampered with. This isn’t the first time Person-Lynn has dealt with footage that has been tampered with.

 

“I got one video in a case where there is a ringing sound above the whole video and the muttled conversations are very important to the case,” said Person-Lynn. “That ringing sound drowns out those conversations so now we have to spend more tax payer money to figure out how to get that ringing sound out of the audio that they gave us. Maybe the ringing sound just happened to be in there but to me it seems like it was tampered with.”

 

Wilson’s family has accepted the fact that Wakeisha is gone but they still want answers to her tragic death.

 

 “That’s why we have reached out to so many people between the DA, LAPD, Civil grand jury, the Attorney General, the Mayor’s office, City Attorney and all 15 counsel persons, that’s 21 different entities we have reached out to respond,” said Person-Lynn.

 

Aside from the hold on the investigation, attorney Person-Lynn has still not heard back from LAPD Chief Beck, the Attorney General refuses to look into it and the District Attorney has denied Person-Lynn access as well as the LAPD inspector general and the civil grand jury.

 

Wilson’s family and attorney Person-Lynn are pushing forward to set up a meeting with Curren Price, Marquise Harris Dawson and Herb Wesson’s office to get the problem resolved without resorting to litigation.

 

“It would be a shame that the tax payers have to pay $1,000’s of dollars to show the family the video of the death but if anyone wants to go that route, then that’s the route we have to go. If they do decide to go that route, the voters will take a real look at the city attorney and why he would waste unnecessary city resources,” said Person-Lynn. “It’s upsetting that we have a world renowned law enforcement organization that can’t seem to conduct an investigation of a homicide or a theft in their own facility. When the Asian students from USC were killed a couple of years back they put 12 of their best detectives on the case, and they tracked down the information and had suspects in custody and I don’t believe it took 80 days.”

 

The Sentinel reached out to LAPD but, they were unable to respond.

 

For more updates on the investigation of Wakeshia Wilson visit www.lasentinel.net

June 30, 2016 

Staff and Wire Report

 

Celebrity photographer Bill Jones died Saturday June 25 while in hospice care. He was 83. According to his granddaughter LaToya Jones, he had been a longtime sufferer of Alzheimer’s due to a violent attack he suffered in 1997.

 

Jones was born in Mansfield, Ohio and attended Mansfield High School where he was active in sports. He graduated and moved on to Ohio University but decided to put his studies on hold to join the U.S. Air Force. While there he studied accounting and became pen pals with his future wife Reva Ochier, a young woman whom he had met at a church a few years prior, they were married January 7, 1956. They were married and had four children Bill Jr., Michelle, Natalie and Nina.

 

Jones became interested in photography while stationed in England and began to study at the London School of Photography. It was there he snapped his first Celebrity photo of Muhammad  Ali.

 

“He was a pioneer,” Jones’ said mentee and fellow photographer Malcolm Ali.

 

“Before cell phones, before digital, there was Bill with his camera. There will never be another one like him.”

 

Jones eventually settled in Los Angeles where his brother lived and where the stars lived. He attended one of the California State Universities and received a degree in Sociology. But he still wanted to make a living as a photographer his life-long dream.

 

He started working for African American teen magazine, Right On and after a few years moved on to freelance for Jet Magazine. While there he met Hal Jackson of The International Talented Teens who hired him to shoot a talent contest, which included future celeb Jada

 

Pinkett- Smith.

 

“Bill was making his mark with his Camera and was known for capturing the positive energy of everyone he shot,” said Los Angeles photographer Ian Foxx, who had been close to Jones.

 

“For many years he was one of few African American photographers on the red carpet and had experienced unfair treatment but he didn’t let biased treatment deter him. He treated his subjects honorably and they responded greatly seeking him out at events and posed for him voluntarily…”

 

He soon became one of the most published celebrity photographers on the Hollywood scene contributing to Jet, Ebony Right On and Sister to Sister magazines and many others, Foxx said.

 

Aldore Collier, West Coast Bureau Chief Ebony/Jet Magazines said Jones’ photos were a staple in the in both publications, particularly in Jet’s “Weeks Best Photos.”

 

Ron Brewington, former chief for American Urban Radio Networks said Jones had been a mentor and a friend to countless entertainment photographers and reporters, often taking them on assignments helping them establish contacts needed for success in the field.

 

“He was well loved and respected by his peers,” Foxx said.

 

Many of his favorite subjects such as Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy, Magic Johnson, Quincy Jones and Sidney Poitier credit Jones with taking some of the most important photos in their careers. The Academy Awards invited Jones to photograph the annual awards show for Black publications, making Jones the first to have that honor. Still, the walls of his home where he resided over 50 years in South Los Angeles with his wife and children are covered with his work…photographs of him with Nelson Mandela, Lena Horne, Astronaut Mae Jamison and countless others.

 

His career almost came to a halt in 1997 while washing his car in his drive way he was brutally attacked by a neighbor and lapsed into a coma for over three weeks. Halle Berry, a very good friend had organized and held a vigil outside of King Drew Medical Center at the time.

 

For over 50 years Jones crafted a career documenting some of the most important events in the History of Hollywood, Foxx said.

 

Said his granddaughter, “don’t feel sorry for our family, he’s definitely in Heaven getting his million dollar shot.”

 

Funeral details had not been announced as of press time.