Absent during protests, Baton Rouge mayor is more visible

(AP) — After police killed a man outside a convenience store and protesters filled the streets, the first black mayor of the Louisiana capital seemed to be conspicuously missing.

[...] with the shooting deaths of three law enforcement officers on Sunday, the 63-year-old Democrat has become more visible, standing up for his police force and accepting condolences from mayors across the country, including the leaders of Orlando and Dallas, and from President Barack Obama.

The slayings came only days after five officers were killed in an ambush in Dallas and just over a month since a gunman opened fire in an Orlando nightclub, killing 49 people.

The police force is on high alert, and law enforcement officers from surrounding parishes have poured in to help.

Protesters have promised to resume their demands for police reform, and Holden said the city was "prepared for any scenario."

Albert Samuels, a political scientist at Southern University, said discontent with Holden within Baton Rouge's black community began brewing before Sterling's death.

[...] critics in the black community have grown louder, complaining that the mayor has neglected north Baton Rouge, the predominantly black area where Sterling was shot.

Discontent started bubbling up publicly during a candidate forum last year, when Holden was running for lieutenant governor and was asked pointedly about the lack of economic development for north Baton Rouge, Samuels said.