Police didn’t show up to protests over killing in Baton Rouge, in striking contrast to Ferguson

Reporting from Baton Rouge, La. —  When hundreds of protesters and residents filled the streets of Baton Rouge, La., on Wednesday night in response to Alton Sterling’s death, the police never appeared.

“They didn’t know how we would respond,” said Aaron Moses, 30, who stood on a corner holding a sign that said “Stop killing us” and wearing a T-shirt with the words “RIP Alton Sterling.” “It’s almost like it doesn’t matter to them, like ‘Let them kill themselves.’ But we know how to police ourselves.”

Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, is seen in a video being pinned to the ground by two white police officers and shot dead in front of a convenience store, where he had been hawking CDs. His death has reignited the nation’s long-running debate over race, police and the use of force.

A White House spokesman said President Obama was “deeply disturbed” by the shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota.

In a Facebook post, Obama said the shootings were “symptomatic of the broader challenges within our criminal justice system, the racial disparities that appear across the system year after year, and the resulting lack of trust that exists between law enforcement and too many of the communities they serve.”

CNN reported Thursday that the 911 call that summoned police came from a homeless man who had approached Sterling, repeatedly asking him for money. Sterling showed his gun, and the homeless man called police, according to a senior law enforcement official cited by CNN. Danette Willis, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said she could not comment on the CNN report, citing the ongoing investigation.

Officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake had reportedly confronted Sterling because of an anonymous 911 tip indicating he had made a threat with a gun in front of the convenience store. A bystander’s cellphone video suggested that officers found a weapon in Sterling’s pocket, though there was no sign that he had touched it.

Salamoni and Lake had both been investigated for use of force previously, according to records.

The officers have been placed on leave pending the investigation, which the Justice Department is now leading.

Overnight, volunteers kept the peace and cleaned up as hundreds of people filled the street where Sterling was shot. Though the crowd grew rowdy at times, no major incidents were reported, police said. Some said the peaceful gathering showed the community can police itself. Others accused police of abandoning them.

Many filed by the makeshift memorial to Sterling in the store parking lot, adding signs and autographing a nearby mural. Others set off fireworks and spun their tires. Many contrasted the scene with images of protesters clashing with police and rioting in Ferguson, Mo., after Michael Brown was shot two years ago.

Kimberly Spruel, 32, a local music teacher, was holding a sign on the corner that featured photos of Sterling with some of his five children. She resented that the city didn’t send any officers, even black officers, who she thought would have been received warmly.

“We pay them to do a job, and tonight that’s not getting done” by police, Spruel said. “We’re directing traffic, picking up the trash.”

But she said the neighborhood’s peaceful response “shows we care.”

“This shows we can come together without things going awry,” Thaddeus Christy, 30, who works as a chef, said as he stood in the store parking lot with a friend.

A man bows his head in prayer at the start of a news conference by “Together Baton Rouge” about the recent shooting of Alton Sterling.

(Gerald Herbert/Associated Press )

Roderick Burks, 33, said police were smart to stay away. “They knew they couldn’t come out here. It might cause a riot, like a chain reaction,” he said. “They’re waiting for it to die down.”

It’s not clear how soon that will happen. Many said they planned to return to protest, especially if police are not charged in connection with the shooting. Protests also are expected at the police department Saturday and Sunday.

“We’re out here for the right reason: justice,” said Christy’s friend Travis Wilson, 36. “We’re going to be out here for the next few days because to be honest, in this area, we all have skeptical views of the justice system.”

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UPDATES:

11:11 a.m: This article has been updated with additional details.

This article was originally published at 10:38 a.m.