Baton Rouge Officer Blane Salamoni, who was involved in the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling, has been fired for “violating use-of-force policies,” CNN reported on Friday. Following Chief Murphy Paul’s announcement of Salamoni’s firing, police released graphic body camera and surveillance footage from the shooting.
The department had originally said Salamoni’s body camera fell off during the shooting and did not capture the shooting. But the body camera footage released Friday shows Salamoni pulling his gun on Sterling and yelling profanities at him only moments after arriving on the scene.
“Don’t move or I’ll shoot your fucking ass, bitch,” Salamoni says. “Put your fucking hands on the car or I’m going to shoot your fucking head!”
Warning: The following video contains graphic content.
Howie Lake II, the other officer involved, has been suspended for three days without pay “for losing his temper” during the July 2016 incident, CNN reported.
Sterling’s death sparked nationwide outrage, prompting #BlackLivesMatter protests across the nation during heightened tensions around police brutality and police shootings of Black men. A viral cell phone video showed the officers tackling Sterling the ground before shooting him.
H/T CNN
