Today's News July 7, 2016: No country for black men

Have you ever read a news story that was just a re-telling of the original news story? Here is one of those...

CNN:
Alton Sterling shooting: Piecing together what happened before the videos

Aside from the main shooting and previous details which had already been released, here is all the news in this story:

Authorities said that the officers were responding to a 911 report of a man with a gun. A source close to the investigation told CNN the witness who called 911 said Sterling was "brandishing a gun."

Abdullah Muflahi, the owner of the Triple S Food Mart, told CNN he wasn't aware of any incident Tuesday that would have spurred a 911 call.

But he's sure the shooting was caught on his store's surveillance cameras, though he hasn't seen it. Police took the video later Tuesday, he told CNN.

There also is police body camera footage of the shooting -- even though the cameras were dislodged -- Baton Rouge police Lt. Johnny Dunham told reporters. The cameras continued to record, he added.

Investigators said they'll review multiple videos of the shooting, and they're canvassing for witnesses.

Authorities haven't said what those police videos or other surveillance footage of the scene show, including the lead-up to what the public has already seen or the possible weapon-brandishing incident.

The source involved in the investigation told CNN that the other videos are not nearly as clear as the bystander videos.

...Muflahi said he'd known Sterling for six years and never saw a confrontation between Sterling and anyone. Sterling never got into fights, he said.

"Just five minutes before (the shooting)," Muflahi said, "he walked into the store getting something to drink, joking around, (and we were) calling each other names."

...Sterling has had encounters with law enforcement before.

In 2009, he was charged with carrying a weapon (a firearm) while in possession of a controlled substance (marijuana). He pleaded guilty two years later and was sentenced to five years in prison, with credit for time served and a recommendation of work release and drug treatment. Sterling had pleaded guilty to other charges in the past.

In a story that is 38 paragraphs long, 11 are news. And the first piece of news doesn't come until the 11th paragraph in the story. Talk about burying the lede...

On the other hand, here is a news story:

The Daily Beast:
New Video Emerges of Alton Sterling Being Killed by Baton Rouge Police

The new video is from the store owner mentioned above, Abdullah Muflahi. You will have to go to the Daily Beast link above to see the video, and I will warn you it is graphic. Here is a description of the video:

“I swear to God if you fucking move!” one of the officers yelled, pointing his gun at Sterling’s chest. “He’s got a gun! Gun!” 

Muflahi’s video does not appear to support the officer’s claim that Sterling’s gun represented an active threat: it appears to have been in a pocket and never reached his hand. Instead, the video shows Sterling pinned down, shot twice in the chest, and then shot four more times.  

After mortally wounding him, one of the officers removes an object from Sterling’s right pants pocket. (Police during a Wednesday press conference refused to comment on whether Sterling had a gun.) 

“Fuck!” one cop yells into his radio. “10-4, 10-4… shots fired! Shots fired!” 

Sterling was still alive, the video capturing his left hand moving over a dark pool of blood filling the center of his red T-shirt. When paramedics arrived minutes later, Sterling was dead.

And here is some more news that CNN missed:

Muflahi said he and two eyewitnesses who were also recording the incident from their vehicle were taken by police to headquarters to be interviewed.

Police asked Muflahi for the surveillance footage from his store but he refused to turn it over without a warrant, he said.

“I told them [I] would like to be in the store when [they took it],” Muflahi said. “They told me they didn’t want me to see the footage.”

“I never received a warrant,” but the video was taken anyway, Muflahi said.

What police didn’t know is Muflahti and Arthur Reed, a Black Lives Matter activist sitting in a nearby car, also recorded the incident on their cellphones.

Nice try, pigs. While it's usually a good idea to get all the evidence of your crime away from the scene, you missed some.

To everyone else, have you learned a healthy disrespect for the government yet (yes, cops are part of the government), or are you still voting for Democrats and Republicans? I bet you are still wasting your votes!

In yet MORE "black man being shot by cops" news...

CNN:
Woman live-streams aftermath of fatal officer-involved shooting

The scene is Falcon Heights, near Minneapolis, Minnesota. A black woman is talking into a camera she is holding, which she flashes over to show a black man behind the wheel of the car. He has a large blood stain on his shirt, and he is obviously in extreme pain.

The camera also captures a police officer standing at the window, holding a gun on the dying man.

We learn later that the car was pulled over for a busted tail light. We also learn the victim, Philando Castile, had a concealed-carry permit.

CNN does show the video, and it is another graphic one, although it doesn't show the shooting, just the aftermath. Surprisingly, the woman seems to keep it together as she describes what happened into the camera. She live-streamed it onto her Facebook account.

This case isn't as clear-cut as the Alton Sterling case, although there is certainly enough here to raise question marks.

One conclusion we can draw from these incidents: Police have zero-tolerance for black men with guns. There is no reluctance in police officers to shoot any armed black man, even if the black man is pinned to the ground.