Alton Sterling was a 37-year-old African American man who was fatally shot by police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on July 5, 2016. Sterling was selling CDs outside a convenience store when officers responded to a report of a man with a gun. The incident was captured on video, showing the officers tackling Sterling to the ground before firing their weapons. The shooting sparked widespread protests and discussions about police violence and systemic racism in the United States. It also led to the involvement of the U.S. Department of Justice, which investigated the incident and the practices of the Baton Rouge Police Department.