Officer Salamoni put his gun to Alton Sterling's head and said, "I'll kill you, bitch."

[Lee-Lee]

53. There are lots of cases to be mad about- this just isnt one

Sorry, it’s not.

He was armed. He was not compliant with officers acting on a legal reasons to a top about him.

Even after being tased he wasn’t compliant.

When you have an armed person using physical force to resist you who makes attempts to grab a gun, that’s a clear indication their intent is to use the gun.

Now, you can say there is no absolute proof he was reaching for the gun. But let’s look at the totality of the evidence to see what is more likely.

Someone called 911 to report he was threatened by Sterling with a gun.
Alton Sterling did indeed have a gun, the callers information was correct in that regard.
Officers respond and Sterling refuses to comply with lawful orders as they investigate the call.
Sterling continues to resist even after being tazed multiple times.
All those are known facts.

So let’s look at what can be the one disputed aspect- was he reaching for the gun?

Because if a person is fighting cops and reaches for a gun that’s cause to use deadly force, as it must be assumed the intent is to use it.

So, lets look at the information available to see what is more likely, was he reaching for the gun or not?

First, did his behavior up to that moment indicate a person who was likely to or not likely to attempt to use that gun.

Among that behavior- he illegally obtained a firearm. He chose to illegally carry the gun he illagelky possessed that evening. He earlier had threatened a person with that gun. He was using violence to resist lawful police action against him.

So did his behavior that evening indicate a person more likely to attempt to use a gun to resist arrest or less likely?

Second, look at his overall pattern of behavior in life. He was a career criminal with a long history of violence. His history of convictions- not arrests but convictions- includes multiple arrests for domestic violence, assault, battery, carrying weapons illegally, sex offenses. He was a violent person, the record shows this without dispute. So if one looks at this, it makes it clear he is the kind of person who would use a firearm against others, including law enforcement, illegally.

Lastly, one has to consider what he knew he was facing after arrest. When you look at his criminal history you see he probably shouldn’t have been out in society at all given his record. But more to the point he knew he had a weapon illegally. He knew that being caught with it this time would probably send him back to prison for a very, very long time. So from his posit he had nothing to lose, and people who think they have nothing to lose make really stupid choices often.

And the police didn’t put him in that position. He was a convicted felon. He made the conscious choice to illegally obtain a gun even after he was caught and charged with carrying a gun illegally twice. He made the choice to put that illegal gun in his pocket that night. He put himself in that position.

So, looking at the totality of the circumstances do we see it more likely he wasn’t trying to reach for the gun as he resisted as part of his attempts, or that he did?

I know my inclination is to fall on the side of LE since I’ve done the job, and the inclination of most here is the opposite. But try to divorce your biases and look at the facts objectively.