The Latest: Police: Video shows officer hit handcuffed man

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Latest on a former police officer whose fatal shooting of a black man set off protests in Baton Rouge in 2016 (all times local):

8 p.m.

A former police officer whose fatal shooting of a black man set off protests in Baton Rouge nearly two years ago is accused of slapping a handcuffed man during an unrelated incident less than a month earlier.

The Baton Rouge Police Department said in a statement Monday that it issued a court summons to former Officer Blane Salamoni for a misdemeanour charge of simple battery after reviewing body camera footage of the June 2016 incident.

Salamoni shot and killed Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, during a struggle outside a convenience store in July 2016. State and federal authorities ruled out criminal charges against Salamoni and a second officer in the deadly shooting.

But the police department says it recently reviewed body camera footage from four other incidents involving Salamoni, all of which occurred in June 2016.

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9:15 a.m.

A former Baton Rouge police officer who fatally shot a black man nearly two years ago, setting off widespread protests and clashes with police, now faces a misdemeanour charge for an unrelated incident in which he allegedly slapped a suspect.

An attorney for Blane Salamoni told The Advocate the ex-officer received a court summons Friday for a simple battery charge. The lawyer, Brant Mayer, said Baton Rouge police issued the summons even though the alleged victim said he didn’t want to pursue charges.

The newspaper reported the 2016 incident was captured on body camera and occurred weeks before Salamoni shot and killed Alton Sterling during a struggle outside a convenience store.

State and federal authorities ruled out criminal charges in Sterling’s death.

Police Chief Murphy Paul fired Salamoni last month.