Atlanta man first to post Baton Rouge police shooting video
At 8:26 p.m. Tuesday, an Atlanta man shared a video that shook the nation.
The video, which depicted the shooting of a Baton Rouge man by a police officer, instantly went viral. Within an hour it was being shown on cable news networks. #AltonSterling has been trending on Twitter ever since. Sterling was killed while selling CDs on a street corner by one of two officers restraining him.
Chris LeDay received the video from a friend in Baton Rouge, where he once lived. The friend knew the woman who shot the footage at the Triple S market and told LeDay she was reluctant to post it.
"I knew it was groundbreaking," said LeDay, whose Instagram account, @mobbgod, has more than 13,000 followers. "They knew I could make it go viral."
He tagged Baton Rouge news stations and Hollywood celebrities. Actor Don Cheadle tweeted about it. New York Daily News columnist Shaun King, closely aligned with the #BlackLivesMatter movement, shared it within an hour of LeDay’s posting.
Protests began the following night in Baton Rouge and haven’t stopped since.
“We weren’t going to let (the police) get away with it this time,” LeDay said.
Check back tomorrow for more on LeDay’s story and what he says happened to him after the video was posted.
About the Author
A native Atlantan, Boone joined the AJC staff in 2007. He quickly carved out a niche covering crime stories, assuming the public safety beat in 2014. He's covered some of the biggest trials this decade, from Hemy Neuman to Ross Harris to Chip Olsen, the latter of which was featured on Season 7 of the AJC's award-winning "Breakdown" podcast.
