The investigation into the killing of Alton Sterling by two police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on July 5 will now entirely be out of local hands, after the local police department and the district attorney recused themselves from the case.
During a press conference on July 11, East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore stepped down from the investigation citing a “personal relationship” with the parents of Blane Salamoni, one of the officers involved in the shooting. Both of Salamoni’s parents are high-ranking police officers. Moore said his decision was “one of the hardest” in his career.
The Baton Rouge Police Department handed over the investigation into the shooting to the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation a day after the shooting.
In the aftermath of the incident, Moore defended the officers, saying that the shooting was “potentially a state authorized killing.” He said that “gives law enforcement officers the authority and mandates them to kill when in defense of themselves or others.”