Police Took Alton Sterling Surveillance Video Without a Warrant or Permission

Minutes after two cops killed Alton Sterling outside of a convenience store, police confiscated all surveillance video of the incident without a warrant and allegedly without permission.

An attorney for the owner of the Triple S Mart, Abdullah Muflahi said a hard drive containing the complete recording of the Sterling’s death at the hands of Baton Rouge Police Department Officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake was unlawfully taken by police. Muflahi showed the barren cabinet where the hard drive had been.

All that’s left of the storage unit is a sole barren wire. That wire went out to surveillance cameras on the front of the building. One of the cameras would have had a direct line of sight to where Sterling was standing when he was tasered, tackled, shot and killed by police.

Another camera outside may have captured the original dispute between Sterling and a homeless man who called 911 after saying Sterling “pulled a gun” on him. The call brought the officers to the store where they confronted Sterling, who matched the description given to 911.

Muflahi recorded the cellphone video of Sterling being shot six times. When other police responded to the shooting, they “immediately put [Muflahi] in the back of their car,” according to lawyer Joel Porter.

Muflahi said police asked him to give them the surveillance footage but he refused unless they got a warrant. An unidentified officer said he was going to obtain a warrant, according to Muflahi, but “I never received a warrant.”

That’s because a warrant was not issued, according to the Baton Rouge District Attorney’s Office and the clerk of court for the 19th Judicial Court District. Police never even filed an application for a warrant, according the D.A.’s office and the court.