Documentary crew captures video of officer-involved shooting on cell phone
BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - A self-proclaimed ex-gangster turned anti-violence advocate said his production crew arrived to the Triple S Food Mart just in time to record the shooting of Alton Sterling on a cell phone.
He said the footage will now play a major role in his next documentary.
The video turned the world's attention to the Capital City. The footage shows the seconds before Baton Rouge Police Officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II struggled with Alton Sterling. It ended with Sterling being shot dead.
"It's nothing new because we see it every day," Silky Slim said.
Slim, the former gangster and founder of the group Stop the Killing, is referring to the violence on the streets of Baton Rouge. He is behind the documentary "To Live and Die in Amerikkka," which shines the spotlight on "urban crime."
"We have been strongly producing that black lives will never matter unless they matter to black people first," Slim said.
He said, five nights a week, his crew members use various cell phone apps to listen in on local police scanners in hopes of gathering new material at crime scenes.
"Shots fired, disturbances, whatever the situation may be. What we do is combine raw footage of violent acts that take place in the city," Slim said.
He said it is how one of his crew members heard the call to the Triple S Food Mart on Tuesday morning and was able to capture the incident on a cell phone.
"We never really discussed at what point they stumbled upon this, or how they stumble upon it," Slim said.
Slim would not say who shot the video, citing safety concerns, but, he said it will now become part of a sequel to his documentary. He said the message delivered in the script will remain the same.
"We are not anti-police. We are for justice, anti-violence," Slim said.
Slim said because he was once in Sterling's shoes, he truly believes Sterling was a changed man trying to do good for his family. He said it is what will make the sequel harder to tell.
"Alton may have had a criminal history, but Alton was an angel and he was an individual that helped people around him. How did it come to this? I don't understand," Slim said.
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