--- description: Jesse Williams, whose speech about racism inspired thousands, appeared to slam police brutality again after Alton Sterling’s death. title: Jesse Williams Speaks Out After Alton Sterling’s Death image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf198e931b539ac08/69889ad5ab6d77eae86aa56f/jesse-williams-alton-sterling.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Jesse Williams Speaks Out After Alton Sterling’s Death  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 6, 2016 6:30 PM CUT  Jesse Williams attends The Players' Awards presented by BET at the Rio Hotel & Casino on July 19, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jesse Williams attends The Players' Awards presented by BET at the Rio Hotel & Casino on July 19, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.Gabe Ginsberg—2015 Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 6, 2016 6:30 PM CUT Actor Jesse Williams, who last week delivered a [powerful, widely discussed speech](http://time.com/4383413/jesse-williams-bet-speech/ "undefined") about racism in the U.S., spoke out again on Wednesday after [Alton Sterling’s death](http://time.com/4394664/alton-sterling-family-baton-rouge-police-shooting/ "undefined") in Baton Rouge, La. The _Grey’s Anatomy_ star and prominent Black Lives Matter activist penned three tweets following the fatal police shooting of Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, which has sparked public outrage and local protests. “In the interest of time, would ye noble patriots please provide a list of infractions punishable by spontaneous public execution? Thanks!” he wrote on Twitter. “Upon receipt of this list, we’ll return to our quarters and study up, eager to enjoy freedoms of white mass murders. #LIFEHACK,” he tweeted. “You chumps will NEVER provide this list… We see through you,” he later added. > [](https://twitter.com/iJesseWilliams/status/750705238521188352) > [](https://twitter.com/iJesseWilliams/status/750706994735034369) > [](https://twitter.com/iJesseWilliams/status/750707815686168576) It’s unclear if the messages were directly related to the death of Sterling, who was killed in the parking lot of a convenience store early Tuesday while police apparently pinned him down. Video of the incident was widely shared on social media and sparked national backlash. **Read More:** [**_Read the Full Transcript of Jesse Williams’ Powerful Speech on Race at the BET Awards_**](http://time.com/4383516/jesse-williams-bet-speech-transcript/ "undefined") Williams delivered his powerful speech during the BET Awards last month while accepting the show’s Humanitarian Award. He has [continued to speak out](http://time.com/4386101/jesse-williams-bet-speech-interviews/ "undefined") about social injustice and has been vocal in response to his critics, including the thousands who signed an online [petition](http://time.com/4393095/shonda-rhimes-jesse-williams-bet-speech-greys-anatomy/ "undefined") urging ABC to fire Williams over his “hate speech against law enforcement and white people.” “Do not promote empty people & their tantrums,” he wrote on Sunday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4395298/jesse-williams-alton-sterling/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4395298/jesse-williams-alton-sterling/"},"headline":"Jesse Williams Speaks Out After Alton Sterling’s Death","datePublished":"2016-07-06T18:30:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:52:28.901Z","description":"\"Would ye noble patriots please provide a list of infractions punishable by spontaneous public execution?\"","url":"https://time.com/4395298/jesse-williams-alton-sterling/","keywords":["celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf198e931b539ac08/69889ad5ab6d77eae86aa56f/jesse-williams-alton-sterling.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf198e931b539ac08/69889ad5ab6d77eae86aa56f/jesse-williams-alton-sterling.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"jesse-williams-alton-sterling","caption":"Jesse Williams attends The Players' Awards presented by BET at the Rio Hotel & Casino on July 19, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.","creditText":"Gabe Ginsberg—2015 Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4395298/jesse-williams-alton-sterling/","name":"Jesse Williams Speaks Out After Alton Sterling’s Death"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Fatal Shooting of Black Man by Police Prompts Protests and Investigation","description":"Police fatally shot a 37-year-old black man named Alton Sterling while apparently pinning him down outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana early Tuesday morning.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/NqqRndnj/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-07-06T15:09:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NqqRndnj.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4395298/jesse-williams-alton-sterling/","duration":"PT2M12S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4395298/jesse-williams-alton-sterling/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```