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Activists See Racial Profiling in Traffic Stops of Philando Castile

Days after the two shootings, five Dallas police officers were killed by black man who said he “wanted to kill white people” and “especially white officers”, police said. “In the meantime, it is important for the NRA not to comment while the investigation is ongoing”.

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There was already little doubt that Castile’s death was completely unwarranted, but the lengthy rap sheet for minor traffic violations will surely raise questions over whether police in Minnesota are targeting the Black community. But Dayton says he has no new information since Thursday.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said several videos, including squad auto video, have been collected, though St. Anthony officers don’t wear body cameras.

In St. Paul this weekend, protests forced the closure of Interstate 94.

KARE has not been able to independently verify the audio with the St. Anthony Village Police Department.

Philip Smith, president and founder of the National African American Gun Association, said whether or not a black man is legally in possession of a gun might not matter in the tense moments of an encounter with an officer.

Seconds later, Yanez shot and killed him. “Minnesotans join with the nation in mourning with the families and friends of these fallen officers”, he said.

Alton Sterling, 37, was fatally shot Tuesday during a struggle with two police officers outside of a convenience store where he was selling CDs.

Goins, an attorney who assisted the Castile family after the shooting but is not representing anyone in the case, said if Yanez and Kauser believed they could be stopping the robbery suspect, they should have approached the auto differently: using lights, sirens and a public address system while they took cover and ordered the occupants to the ground at gunpoint.

Reynolds added that suggestions that Castile’s killing was not racially motivated and that the officer had probable cause are “appalling”. Among them: If the officer suspected Philando Castile in the robbery, why didn’t he treat the traffic stop as a potentially risky situation? She said that Yanez shot Castile after he reached for his identification. I can no longer say this is not a race issue, because it is a race issue. St. Anthony officials have not commented on Castile’s stop since shortly after the shooting.

The previous year’s report includes a photo of Yanez solemnly standing guard at a memorial to fallen officers at the state Capitol. Reynolds claimed the officer had pulled them over ostensibly for a busted taillight.

A U.S. Department of Justice investigation following the 2014 police shooting death of Michael Brown, a black, unarmed 18-year-old, in Ferguson, Missouri, found law enforcement efforts were focused on generating revenue for that city. Dayton said he and other state officials would ask for stronger federal involvement.

Reynolds said she lost her best friend and a role model for her daughter. “It’s up to us to take a stand and demand that they ‘stop killing us, ‘” reads a statement from Beyoncé posted on her website Thursday.

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Speaking later, he said America was “horrified” over the Dallas shootings and there was no possible justification for the attacks.

Why police shootings so outrage black America