La. town still haunted by police shooting
National spotlight does little to fix Baton Rouge’s racial division
BATON ROUGE, La. — A year ago, Abdullah Muflahi rushed outside his convenience store, whipped out his cellphone and began taping moments before a white police officer shot and killed a black man in the parking lot.
Muflahi’s video fueled nightly protests that turned his friend,37-year-old Alton Sterling, into another symbol of outrage over deadly police shootings. The July 5 shooting also transformed Muflahi’s store into a hub for protesters and a canvas for their grief and anger.
Visitors routinely stop by the Triple S Food Mart to photograph an iconic mural of Sterling’s smiling face on its aluminum siding. A makeshift memorial — now reduced to soggy stuffed animals and withered flowers — still stands on the table where Sterling once sold homemade CDs outside.
Little has changed in this poverty-stricken neighborhood since the shooting — a frustrating fact of life for residents and business owners who had hoped a national spotlight on their problems could erode racial divisions and improve police relations in Louisiana’s capital.
“It’s overlooked. It’s not much that the city does around here,” Muflahi said. “There are things that the city could fix and help make it better, but nobody looks at it like that.”
Muflahi, a 29-year-old native of Yemen, mourns Sterling as the friend who introduced himself as “Big Boy” and welcomed him after he moved here from Detroit and bought his store in 2010.
“He’s the one who actually showed me around and looked out for me,” Muflahi said.
The shooting strengthened Muflahi’s bond with neighbors who protested outside the store after Sterling’s death. But Muflahi said store revenue also plummeted and has been slow to rebound.
“A lot of people were scared to come up here,” he said. “A lot of my regulars — the older people — I haven’t seen them.”
A federal investigation found the confrontation with the two white officers, Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II, lasted less than 90 seconds.
The officers approached Sterling about a call that a black man selling CDs had threatened someone with a gun. They struggled with Sterling after he didn’t comply with commands to put his hands on the hood of a car, then wrestled him down after Lake shocked him with a Taser, federal authorities said.
Investigators found that S alamo ni shot Sterling three times after saying Sterling was reaching for a gun in his pocket, and fired three more shots into Sterling’s back when he began to sit up.
A loaded revolver was recovered from Sterling’s pocket.
In May, the Justice Department announced it will not file criminal charges against either officer. Louisiana’s attorney general is reviewing whether any state charges are warranted. The officers remain on paid leave.
Donna Harris, a 41-yearold nurse, lives nearby and joined the protests. A year later, she’s still waiting for some reason to be optimistic.
“Nothing got better. Nothing changed,” she said. “They haven’t even given us justice for Alton.”