Attorneys representing Alton Sterling's five children respond harshly to the decision of Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul.

Chief Paul announced that Officer Blane Salamoni will be terminated, effective immediately and that Officer Howie Lake faces a 3 day suspension.

"The investigation by the Attorney General was crap. A regurgitation of what the DOJ did. The DA didn’t even get involved because he was friends with Salamoni’s parents. We have to get some independent body that is elected nationally to look into officer-involved shootings where they can’t be influenced by the local political people or this is going to keep happening," said attorney, Chris Stewart.

 

"It was clear that Blane Salamoni came out like a pit bull and immediately escalated the situation putting a gun to this man’s head, using profane language, threatening his life, and he ended up taking his life. Everybody really needs to pay attention to the video surveillance from the food mart. You saw the body cam footage, but the real video is what hasn’t aired yet from the surveillance video. Because what it shows is the personality of Alton Sterling. He never cursed. He never threatened them. He kept asking, 'What did I do man? What did I do? Why are you doing this? You’re hurting me,'” Stewart added.

Another attorney for the family, Michael Adams added: "The person who was out of control was Blane Salamoni. The person who stood by and let him be out of control was Howie Lake, and that's a tragedy."

"You're not just a warrior, you're a guardian," Stewart said in speaking about how he believes police should be held to a higher standard.

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