The Root News Report –
The man who videotaped the chilling death of Alton Sterling has effectively been given the ax, and, according to his lawyer, it’s because he posted Alton Sterling’s death on social media.
According to WSB-TV, Christopher LeDay was arrested less than 24 hours after he posted video of Alton Sterling being shot and killed by Baton Rouge police officers. Police came to his job at Dobbins Air Force Base in and put the cuffs on him for alleged assault and battery.
LeDay’s lawyer says that he was taken in on false charges.
“He never had a warrant for an assault,” lawyer Tiffany Simmons told the station. “My client has never had any criminal history.”
She adds, “They never showed a warrant for an assault to my client. In fact, my client was held in DeKalb County Jail for at least 26 hours, and they never produced a warrant.”
Simmons told WSB-TV that when police could not produce a warrant, she was then told that her client was being held for unresolved traffic tickets.
After paying those tickets and trying to return to work, LeDay’s lawyer says, he was turned away at the gate of the base for “security-clearance issues.”
Yet LeDay, who was just hired about six weeks ago, said that his supervisor knew about the traffic tickets when he was hired.
“He should not be penalized or possibly retaliated against; he should not be embarrassed at his place of employment for doing what is right,” Simmons said.
This is not the first time a person who videotaped police kill someone has been harassed by cops. Ramsey Orta, the man who filmed Eric Garner’s heinous death from a police choke hold, was arrested at least five times afterward, including for videotaping another police arrest, during which New York City police said that he got too close with his camera.
