Rape, Alton Sterling, And The Complexity Of Justice
By now we have all heard about the brutal killing of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, a murder that was followed shortly by the shooting of Philando Castile in Minnesota, both of which have reignited nationwide rallies and demands for justice.
The violence began Tuesday night, when police say they received a call that Sterling was threatening someone with a gun outside of a convenience store. The officers said that he died in their confrontation with him. In the video accounts of this death, Sterling is thrown on the hood of a car before being tackled to the ground. Once on the ground, officers hold him down until someone yells that Sterling has a gun. Officers fire several shots into Sterling, the video leaving confusion as to whether or not he actually had the gun officers claimed he reached for.
The general template for Black people in the age of Black Lives Matter and the hyper-visible nature of our terror under white supremacy now has a familiar arc: Shooting. Police. Video. Outrage. Criminal record. Administrative leave. March. Grieve. Repeat.
Sterling’s death has been no exception. Within hours, #AltonSterling was trending on social media as news outlets rushed to share the gruesome video of his execution. felon status was shared as widely as his death, the story further complicated by one of…
