Castile was fatally shot by Jeronimo Yanez, a St. Anthony police officer, last Wednesday after being pulled over in Falcon Heights, a suburb of St. Paul. She could be heard saying Castile was shot after police pulled their vehicle over, citing a broken tail light.
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She stated that while he was reaching for his registration, Castile was shot four times and bled to death as the officer continued to point the gun at them.
The shooting prompted outrage nationwide – fueled in part because it was the second officer-involved shooting of a black man in as many days, and because Castile’s fiancée, Diamond Reynolds, filmed the aftermath in a widely circulated Facebook Live video.
“That’s the thing most people who get a permit to carry are most concerned about because they understand it can be risky situation if it’s mishandled”, said Joseph Olson of the Gun Civil Rights Alliance.
Kelly went on to say that the officer, who was placed on administrative leave after the event, is distraught and saddened. Paul area since 2002.
He condemned the police killing of Castile and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, as well as the sniper attacks that left five Dallas police officers dead Thursday. “The driver looks more like one of our suspects, just ’cause of the wide set nose”, the officer continues. “I don’t think he would have”. Some Minnesota demonstrators stood together to watch the news footage, and roughly a dozen St. Paul police officers, including a canine unit, circled up in the parking lot of a nearby church, an apparent increase in force from earlier in the evening. “Woman who live streamed boyfriend’s shooting speaks outReynolds” lawyer Larry Rogers added that they’re seeking an independent investigation through the Department of Justice.
“Would this have happened if those passengers would have been white?”
Bryan Strawser says the non-partisan caucus, which advocates for “firearm freedoms in Minnesota”, supports the investigation being conducted by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and joins with Governor Dayton in asking for an independent federal investigation.
His comments came a day after Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton jumped into a suddenly re-ignited national debate over how law enforcement treats people of colour, saying police likely wouldn’t have fired if Castile had been white.
Valire Castile, center, addresses hundreds at the JJ Hill Montessori School where her son Philando worked Thursday, July 7, 2016, in St. Paul, Minn. where a vigil was held following the shooting death by police of Philando Castile.
“I’m going to stop a auto”, the officer says on the recording.
Under state carry laws, those who are pulled over in Arkansas are not obligated to tell law enforcement officers if they are carrying a weapon, unless they are a convicted felon. He wouldn’t have been shot four times, with a 4-year-old child in the auto.
According to Kelly, Yanez is a “sensitive man” who has been very distressed about the entire incident, and is now on administrative leave from the St. Anthony Police Department.
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Gurman reported from Minneapolis.
