Alton Sterling

Sometimes, the arc of the moral universe does bend toward justice. Even if it takes time, as was the case in South Carolina involving a white police officer and an unarmed black man.

"All of this was for nothing, but it just hurts so bad," Sandra Sterling, Alton Sterling's aunt, says of news that the Justice Department won't prosecute two officers involved in her nephew's death.

Even before last week's shooting of Alton Sterling, Baton Rouge's mostly-white police force had an uneasy relationship with the mostly-black city.

Sometimes violent protests have followed the deaths of African-American men at the hands of white police officers. But community leaders in Baton Rouge are instead focusing on political action.

"This is not just a black issue," the president said. "It's not just a Hispanic issue. This is an American issue."

Two videos of black men who were shot to death by police — one in Minnesota and one in Louisiana — are sparking passionate responses in the media and on the streets.

In the video, Alton Sterling is on the ground when one of the officers kneeling over him yells "He's got a gun!" Then at least one officer draws a weapon from his holster. The FBI is investigating.