Justice Department will not prosecute officers in Alton Sterling shooting: report

The Justice Department will not file charges against the police officers involved in the shooting death of a black man in Baton Rouge, La., last year, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

The Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation into the July 2016 police-involved shooting of Alton Sterling, 37, which was caught on video and sparked protests throughout the city. 

Sterling was killed during an encounter with Baton Rouge police officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II outside a convenience store, where he was selling homemade CDs. The officers were responding to a call that Sterling had threatened the caller with a gun.

Police arrested more than 200 protesters who took to the streets in Baton Rouge in the wake of the shooting.

{mosads}The Justice Department has not yet publicly announced the decision not to prosecute Salamoni and Lake, but state officials could still carry out their own probe into the case and file charges. The officers were placed on administrative leave after the incident.

Both officers had two prior “use of force” complaints against them but were cleared in each case, according to the AP.

President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have billed themselves as pro-law enforcement and have opposed Obama administration-era police reform agreements between local police departments and the Justice Department. 

Sessions ordered a review of those agreements last month, calling into question their future.