Justice Department refuses to charge cops who killed Alton Sterling then plays dumb about it

Is anyone really surprised that the Justice Department decided not to charge the cops who killed Alton Sterling last year in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for selling CDs outside of a convenience store? With a white supremacist like Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III in charge of the DOJ, there is almost no chance that black lives taken by the state will receive any kind of justice. So this isn’t at all surprising—just another grim reminder that this administration has no plans for police reform or to work on repairing the historical tensions between police and communities of color. But for some of us, coming just one day after news that a police officer in Balch Springs, Texas, shot and killed yet another black person, this time unarmed 15-year-old honor student Jordan Edwards, this hurts—a lot.

The Justice Department has decided not to bring charges against the officers involved in the death of Alton Sterling, whose videotaped shooting by police in Baton Rouge last summer prompted unrest across the city, and is planning to reveal in the next 24 hours that it has closed the probe, according to four people familiar with the matter.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Sterling family had yet to be informed by the Justice Department of the decision, and it is unclear how and when the department will announce its findings.

The family of Alton Sterling is devastated by this news and rightfully so. They had been told that they would be notified about a decision prior to any public announcement. So this news serves as a double whammy—both that the officers would not be charged and that they are finding out at the same time everyone else is. And as you can imagine, it’s a lot for them to take.

Family members said they had been told they would get news of the decision before it was publicized. CNN has not independently confirmed the media reports, which cited unnamed sources. [...]

One of Sterling's aunts said she, too, had not heard from federal authorities. But she was upset by the reports that said the officers would not be charged.

"It's not right. Lord have Mercy. Oh my God," Sandra Sterling told CNN.

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