Rev. Jesse Jackson Calls Alton Sterling Shooting ‘A Legal Lynching’

Sterling, 37, was shot and killed by Baton Rouge police on Tuesday.
Stephen J. Cohen via Getty Images

Prominent civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. weighed in Wednesday on the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Sterling was killed by Baton Rouge police early on Tuesday morning. The officers were responding to reports of a man carrying a gun, threatening others and selling CDs in front of a Triple S convenience store.

A graphic video of the incident surfaced on social media in the following hours. Protesters have also staged sit-ins and marches calling for justice for Sterling.

Jackson has been very vocal about incidents involving alleged police violence in the past. After 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was killed by a Chicago police officer, Jackson called for a law to prevent officers from shooting citizens in the back.

"Police can stop shooting people in the back now," Jackson told CNN, in the aftermath of McDonald's death.

Sterling was shot multiple times in the chest and back, according to the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office.

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