Alton Sterling's Son: 'All Police Aren't Bad'
BATON ROUGE, La. (CBSNewYork) -- Alton Sterling's teenage son is calling for calm as he talks publicly for the first time about his father's death at the hands of Baton Rouge police officers.
Cameron Sterling, 15, told CBS News' David Begnaud that he is preparing for his father's funeral, and thinking of the nationwide protests.
"I really want everyone to know, everyone nationwide, everyone in this world to know that Alton Sterling was a good man," Cameron said. "No matter what anyone else has to say about him, truly in my heart, I know he was a good dad."
Alton Sterling was fatally shot by police in front of a Baton Rouge convenience store last week. The shooting was caught on cellphone video.
Cameron said he wants demonstrators to keep protesting, but to "protest the right way."
"But what I want, what I ask, if you truly love my father, I truly just want everyone to protest the right way – protesting in peace," Cameron said. "Not in violence, not beating the police, not police beating the people. That makes no sense. That makes things worse. You have to make things better by making peace."
Cameron stated that despite his father's death, "all police aren't bad."
"They all aren't bad. There are some that are bad, but all aren't bad," Cameron said. "I feel all police shouldn't be punished for other police's crimes. The police in Dallas, Texas, they didn't deserve that because nobody knew if they had kids to go home to. Those kids need their parents."
Cameron also touched on crying by the side of his mother, Quinyetta McMillan.
"When I put my arm around her, it's like somebody else's hand touched me, like I had another hand laying on top of my hand. And when I looked over, wasn't nobody else touching me, nobody else was touching me," he explained. "And it was like at that moment I know – my daddy here, he right on the side of her. We're standing here as a family together once again. That's when I just started crying … I knew I can't physically have him back, so I knew I had to cry, just to be like, I want my daddy back."
Cameron will travel to Washington, D.C., Thursday, where he is expected to meet President Barack Obama during a town hall. On Friday, a funeral for his father will be held.
