North Korea’s state-run media on Tuesday reported last week’s police killing of Alton Sterling, the black male who was shot multiple times and killed by the local police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The article said the death of a defenseless U.S. citizen, killed by the state, again proved the U.S. is the “violent arena of human rights violations.”

“Once again, the local police force’s shooting on black lives broke out on July 5, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The police have poured multiple rounds on chest and back of a black male, Alton Sterling and brutally murdered him,” Rodong Sinmun reads.

“To protest against the police’s brutal murder of the citizen, hundreds of local residents held a demonstration.”

According to the NK News KCNA Watch data tool, it is only the second time North Korean media mentioned the BlackLivesMatter political slogan that has risen in the U.S. in the wake of numerous similar uses of deadly force.

“The demonstrators held cards saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ or ‘hands up, don’t shoot’ and marched in the street,” Rodong reported, directly translating the signs from English to Korean.

North Korean media covers the U.S. or its government on an almost daily basis, usually with heavy handed articles and political commentary aimed at criticizing U.S. “imperialism” and its “anti-North Korea” policies.

An American expert told NK News he finds the North Korean report unsurprising.

“North Korea often cites such incidents or episodes to criticize the U.S. society and governance. Pyongyang does this to bolster North Korea’s image in the eyes of its citizens, and as part of its efforts to deflect criticism of the North by outsiders,” Daniel Pinkston of Troy University said.

“Effective propagandists are selective in the facts that they interweave with their political message. But they do not use large data sets or make neutral comparisons.”

North Korea’s criticism comes less than a week after the U.S. Treasury Department enacted human rights-related sanctions on North Korea, even designating its national leader Kim Jong Un.

In response, North Korea on the following day called the U.S. move a “declaration of war,” later warning that Pyongyang may sever its only diplomatic communication with the U.S. through its permanent mission to the UN.

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