John Rivera, who runs the Miami Police Benevolent Association, told reporters Thursday that the officer, who has not been identified by name, is a decorated four-year veteran of the police force and a member of the SWAT team. Matthews says he tried to tell an officer who had stayed behind for crowd control, but she told him to back up.
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John Rivera of the Dade County Police Benevolent Association, which is representing the officer, said the policeman had meant to shoot the patient, believing he posed a danger.
He added the officer who shot him “wishes nothing but the best for Mr Kinsey and the officer is praying for his speedy recovery as are we”. Moments later, in a live Facebook stream, his girlfriend said the officer had asked for Castile’s license and shot him when he moved to retrieve it.
“We at least want to be respected enough so that when we do get shot done unjustly by police they’re held accountable and not given a paid vacation, they’re not protected and hid behind the walls of the police department”, protester Dominique Colas said.
“I was really more anxious about him than myself”, Kinsey said of the patient. Police said they were called to the scene with a report of a man with a gun threatening to commit suicide.
“If you ask any specifics about the case I can not answer”, North Miami Police spokesperson Natalie Buissereth told members of the crowd. “The State Attorney’s Office is also looking at the case”. Cell phone footage shows Kinsey on the ground with his arms in the air, with the heavy-set young autistic man sitting on the ground nearby playing with a small white toy.
The video does not show the moment of the shooting.
“Lay down on your stomach”, Kinsey says to his patient in the video, which was shot from about 30 feet away and provided to the Miami Herald (http://hrld.us/2ahReMa). Protests have erupted in major USA cities during the past year and a half, as widely viewed videos of police shootings of black men drew attention to long-standing issues of race, policing and lack of accountability for officers.
“Shut up”, responds the patient.
“I’m telling them again, ‘Sir, there is no need for firearms. He is autistic. He has a toy truck in his hand.”.
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“When I went to the ground, I’m going to the ground just like this here, with my hands up”, Kinsey said Wednesday while recovering in a hospital from his ordeal. I’m unarmed, he’s an autistic guy.
