Hillary Clinton called the shooting of Alton Sterling a “tragedy,” in a statement on Wednesday night, and said she was “glad the Department of Justice has agreed to a full and thorough review of this shooting.”
Sterling, 37, was shot and killed was by an officer outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Tuesday. The shooting, which was caught on video, has drawn consternation and protest from activists and politicians across the country and the president of the NAACP’s local branch is calling for the city’s police chief and mayor to resign.
“From Staten Island to Baltimore, Ferguson to Baton Rouge, too many African-American families mourn the loss of a loved one from a police-involved incident,” Clinton said, referencing other office involved shootings that have scarred the country. “Something is profoundly wrong when so many Americans have reason to believe that our country doesn’t consider them as precious as others because of the color of their skin.”
Clinton has run on a presidential platform that includes more investment in technology that help prevent police-involved shootings, more investigation of the police that are involved in those shootings and ending racial profiling.
But in Sterling’s case, technology failed. Both officers involved in the shooting were wearing body cameras but they dislodged during the altercation.
Clinton has called on a federal requirement that all police officers wear body cameras.
After the shooting, the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced it was leading an investigation into what happened.
“I am glad the Department of Justice has agreed to a full and thorough review of this shooting,” Clinton said. “Incidents like this one have undermined the trust between police departments and the communities they serve. We need to rebuild that trust. We need to ensure justice is served.”
She added: “Progress is possible if we stand together and never waver in our fight to secure the future that every American deserves.”
