3 arrests made in alleged plot to harm officers, police say

(AP) — Authorities in Louisiana have arrested three suspects accused of stealing several handguns as part of an alleged plot to harm police officers in the Baton Rouge area, police said.

The arrests come amid heightened tensions following the deadly police shootings of black men in Baton Rouge and Minnesota and the killings of five police officers in Dallas last week.

Authorities in Baton Rouge discovered the alleged plot while responding to a weekend burglary at a pawn shop, Baton Rouge police Chief Carl Dabadie said at a news conference Tuesday.

A week after 37-year-old Alton Sterling was shot and killed by two white police officers in Baton Rouge outside a convenience store, tension are high in Louisiana's capital city.

In Baton Rouge, the police department has come under criticism for the tactics it's used with protesters since, sending riot police and military-style vehicles into the streets.

[...] tensions escalated during weekend protests that moved away from the store and into other areas of the city, marked by a show of force by law enforcement that included police wielding batons, carrying long guns and wearing shields.