Terrence Sterling was an unarmed black motorist shot by a police officer who did not turn on his bodycam until after the shooting. The lack of footage has left many frustrated and protesters have taken to Washington DC’s streets to demand accountability from the police.
Over 200 protesters have shut down several streets in Washington. They began their protests at 3rd and M Street where Sterling was killed on September 11. Plans to protest on Monday were announced by DC Black Lives Matter on their Twitter page.
The demonstrators are demanding that Officer Brian Trainer, 27, be arrested and held accountable for the death of Terrence Sterling. So far, no arrests have been reported and the protests have remained peaceful and concentrated in downtown DC.
Alternating between chants of “Black lives matter,” and “No justice, no peace, no racist police,” the protests are part of larger anti-police brutality demonstrations in the US. The protesters are carrying portraits of people killed by police over the last few years. One of the demonstrators is the mother of Alonzo Smith, who was killed by private security officers in DC.
The altercation between Sterling and Trainer has been hotly debated, with Trainer claiming that he fired in self-defense after Sterling tried to hit him with his motorcycle. Witnesses have contradicted this, saying that Trainer fired from inside the cruiser and that Sterling was nowhere nearby. The video from Trainer's body camera only shows what happened after the shot, as the device had been off during the shooting.
The protests have been peaceful so far with police accompanying the march along the way.