Drake among the several musicians responding to the Alton Sterling shooting

Multiple musicians have spoken out against the shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Sterling, a black man, was shot at point-blank range by white police officers while pinned to the ground. The police had received a tip that a red-shirted man selling CDs had pointed a gun at someone near a convenience store. Sterling matched part of the description: he was wearing a red shirt and selling CDs. He had permission from the store-owner to be there.
Cellphone footage of the incident has received widespread circulation. In the video, Sterling seems to pose no threat and is handled extremely forcibly by the police officers.
Several musicians have taken to social media to express their outrage, including Justin Timberlake, Chuck D of Public Enemy, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Talib Kweli, Kanye West, and Nick Jonas.
Drake in particular gave a heartfelt response, posting an open letter onto Twitter. In the letter, he points out how police brutality toward "black and brown communities", which he sees as disproportionately targeted by police, reduces human lives to hashtags.
The U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights division will investigate the case. The federal government is rarely involved in investigations of officer-involved deaths. The decision came after community leaders and members of Sterling's family called for federal intervention.
Watch the Sterling family give an emotional press statement (starting at 6:00) and read Drake's letter below.

??

A photo posted by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on Jul 6, 2016 at 5:50pm PDT