Cops or Collection Agents? In Many Poor Communities, Police Seeking Fines End Up Firing Shots

‘The past three days have been brutal for any peace-loving citizen in the United States. After video emerged Wednesday of police tackling and then killing 37-year-old Alton Sterling—a black man whose crime was selling bootleg CDs outside of a Baton Rouge convenience store—the Justice Department opened a criminal probe into the officer who shot the father of five a total of four times.
The following day in Minnesota, Diamond Reynolds posted to Facebook a haunting livestream of her boyfriend, 32-year-old Philando Castile, dying in the driver’s seat of his car after he was pulled over for a broken taillight and shot by police. Minnesota governor Mark Dayton called for the Justice Department to likewise investigate the shooting.
Both incidents sent shockwaves throughout the country; in dozens of cities peaceful protests erupted with demonstrators calling for the cops who gunned these men down to be brought to justice.’
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