A Baton Rouge cop pulled out his gun on a group of citizens protesting the Baton Rouge police killing of Alton Sterling Saturday night.
The cop waved the gun around at the crowd, telling them to “back up” because they were converging onto the street – not that they were charging him as he will probably claim.
“Hands up, don’t shoot!” the crowd began chanting as the cop placed the gun back into his holster to drag a woman away who had laid down on the street to block traffic.
He apparently intended to arrest her but other protesters pulled her away from him, which prompted him to pull out his gun away and point it at the crowd.
Meanwhile, a second cop only held a flashlight up, telling the crowd to back up, obviously not in fear for his life as his partner.
However, waving a gun around like that cop did likely made some protesters fear for their lives – especially because they were protesting nonviolently, even if they were illegally on the road – so could any of them be blamed for pulling their own gun out to defend themselves against the cop with the gun?
Obviously, they do not have the same license to kill as cops do, so it is not recommended.
But knowing how trigger-happy cops can be, innocent lives could easily have been lost tonight.
Baton Rouge police also arrested a journalist who was covering the protest, according to the Advocate.
Ryan Kailath, a reporter with WWNO, a public radio station in New Orleans was arrested on one count of simple obstruction of a highway, Sgt. Don Coppola confirmed.
Kailath posted the following video before his arrest.
Panthers marching and chanting “black power” in Baton Rouge #AltonSterling pic.twitter.com/xEp1nodii0
— Ryan Kailath (@ryankailath) July 9, 2016
Shere Dore, an activist who drove from Texas with members of the New Black Panther Party to join the protest, provided the following statement to PINAC on Facebook about her experience at the protest.
The People’s New Black Panther Party showed up, marching peacefully to BR Police HQ… moments later guns were drawn on us. Four Panthers have been arrested however BRPD has yet to tell us what they were arrested for. We are attempting to get info to get them out. We were purposely prohibited from going to the front with other protesters. We think the cops created the diversion to keep us back and busy with arrests.
This is The People’s New Black Panther Party. Peaceful yet militant. Stand for the people. Stands against police violence.
It was only Thursday when a man who pulled out a gun on protesters in Portland was arrested and charged with two felonies where he is now facing 25 years in prison.
Then there is “Officer Go Fuck Yourself,” the Louisiana cop who pulled a gun on protesters in Ferguson in 2014, only to say his life was ruined because he was in the process of losing his law enforcement license, not because he faced any criminal charges.
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