FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Federal Officials Close Investigation Into Death of Alton Sterling
The Justice Department announced today that the independent federal investigation into the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling on July 5, 2016, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, found insufficient evidence to support federal criminal charges against Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) Officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake, II. Career prosecutors from the U.S. Attorneys Office (USAO) for the Middle District of Louisiana and the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, along with officials from the FBI and the Justice Departments Community Relations Service, met today with Sterlings family and their representatives to inform them of the findings of the investigation and the decision.
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Conclusion
In sum, after extensive investigation into this tragic event, career Justice Department prosecutors have concluded that the evidence is insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officers Salamoni and Lake willfully violated Sterlings civil rights. Given the totality of the circumstances that the officers had been fighting with Sterling and had attempted less-than-lethal methods of control; that they knew Sterling had a weapon; that Sterling had reportedly brandished a gun at another person; and that Sterling was much larger and stronger than either officer the Department cannot prove either that the shots were unconstitutional or that they were willful. Moreover, two different, independent experts opined that this shooting was not unreasonable given the circumstances. With respect to the first series of shots, the experts assessed that it was not unreasonable for Officer Salamoni to use lethal force, in light of all of the circumstances referenced above. With respect to the second series of shots, both experts emphasized that officers are trained to eliminate a threat, and that Sterling appeared to pose a threat because he was still moving and his right hand was not visible to Officer Salamoni. Accordingly, the federal investigation into this incident has been closed without prosecution. Federal officials intend to provide the investigative file to the Louisiana Attorney Generals Office, which intends to conduct its own investigation into whether the conduct at issue in this investigation violated state law.
In this case, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Louisiana, the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, and the FBI each devoted significant time and resources to investigating the circumstances surrounding Sterlings death and to completing a thorough analysis of the evidence gathered. The Justice Department remains committed to investigating allegations of excessive force by law enforcement officers and will continue to devote the resources required to ensure that all serious allegations of civil rights violations are thoroughly examined. The Department aggressively prosecutes criminal civil rights violations whenever there is sufficient evidence to do so.
