We noted in our first piece on the Alton Sterling shooting that while he appeared to reach for a firearm in his pocket, it was still disputable. Only one video was available at the time, and it wasn’t of the best quality. A second video has surfaced, and it does appear to validate the police narrative on the shooting.
The video, courtesy of USA Today, is posted below:
By contrast, you can watch the original video here.
The blog Blue Lives Matter has a fantastic analysis of the new video:
One of the first items of note in the video is that Alton Sterling’s left hand was clearly restrained and under the control of Officer One. However, Sterling’s right hand is clearly not under control of the officers. In fact, Officer Two’s position would …show more content…
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Officer Two’s hand lost hold of Alton Sterling’s hand moments before shooting
Officer Two’s hand then follows Sterling’s hand towards his right pocket, and that’s when you hear shots being fired. Later in the video you can see Officer One remove a gun from Sterling’s right pocket. The only logical conclusion is that Sterling was reaching for his gun. If somebody has two police officers pointing guns at them, while telling them not to move after discovering their gun, and the person then reaches towards their gun, then it’s really obvious that they are trying to get to their gun. We have clear evidence here that Sterling was going for a gun at the time he was shot.
You may have also noticed in this video that the first shots didn’t appear to be fired by Officer One, as many had assumed. You can see Officer One’s pistol when the first shots are heard, and there is no visible muzzle flash. This means that the first shots fired likely came from either Officer Two’s gun, or Sterling’s gun.
It should also be noted that even if Sterling was unable to retrieve his gun from his pocket, that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have fired it. Pockets generally aren’t
The video, courtesy of USA Today, is posted below:
By contrast, you can watch the original video here.
The blog Blue Lives Matter has a fantastic analysis of the new video:
One of the first items of note in the video is that Alton Sterling’s left hand was clearly restrained and under the control of Officer One. However, Sterling’s right hand is clearly not under control of the officers. In fact, Officer Two’s position would …show more content…
3
Officer Two’s hand lost hold of Alton Sterling’s hand moments before shooting
Officer Two’s hand then follows Sterling’s hand towards his right pocket, and that’s when you hear shots being fired. Later in the video you can see Officer One remove a gun from Sterling’s right pocket. The only logical conclusion is that Sterling was reaching for his gun. If somebody has two police officers pointing guns at them, while telling them not to move after discovering their gun, and the person then reaches towards their gun, then it’s really obvious that they are trying to get to their gun. We have clear evidence here that Sterling was going for a gun at the time he was shot.
You may have also noticed in this video that the first shots didn’t appear to be fired by Officer One, as many had assumed. You can see Officer One’s pistol when the first shots are heard, and there is no visible muzzle flash. This means that the first shots fired likely came from either Officer Two’s gun, or Sterling’s gun.
It should also be noted that even if Sterling was unable to retrieve his gun from his pocket, that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have fired it. Pockets generally aren’t