A retired New York City police detective wept as he spoke to CNN’s Chris Cuomo about the bravery of the Dallas officers who, carrying only pistols, were wearing protective vests they knew couldn’t deflect the bullets of the shooter’s weapon.
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Just 24 hours earlier, another black man, Alton Sterling, 37, was shot to death by police while being restrained in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Police used smoke bombs to clear demonstrators blocking Interstate 94 in St. Paul late Saturday night during a protest sparked by the recent police killings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, says he was shot while reaching for his wallet.
Attorney Thomas Kelly gave the most detailed account so far of why the cop drew his own weapon, telling the Associated Press that Yanez was reacting to “the presence of that gun and the display of that gun” when he opened fire on Castile.
The previous year’s report includes a photo of Yanez solemnly standing guard at a memorial to fallen officers at the state Capitol. “This had nothing to do with race. This had everything to do with the presence of a gun”.
An attorney for Castile’s family, Larry Rogers, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment on Kelly’s remarks. She said one of the officers shot him “for no apparent reason” after he reached for his ID.
Reuters said that Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton made a brief appearance in an attempt to quell the crowd. Dayton later said he stood by his statement even though it angered some in law enforcement.
Tyree Johnson, who said he was Castile’s cousin, said officers on the highway fired pellets and gas in his direction.
“They’re not getting any kind of the benefit of the doubt”, Smith said.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension identified Yanez as the officer who fatally shot Castile, and Officer Joseph Kauser as the other officer involved in the July 6 traffic stop in Falcon Heights.
People gathered outside the St. Anthony Police Department at roughly 2 p.m. and peacefully marched through the streets to and from city hall.
“For this guy’s lawyer to say it’s not a race problem, after the governor admitted it was a race problem, after the president had addressed the race problem in the country – it’s an attempt to remove responsibility away from the officer”, Turner said. They were named best in their graduating class, and Dobratz said they seemed cut out for the challenges of police work.
In 2014, the department selected Yanez to be part of a special crime prevention unit, whose members were hand-picked based on “their initiative, creativeness and varied backgrounds in law enforcement”, according to the department’s annual report.
At some point during the interaction, Yanez shot Castile multiple times.
Lozoya recalled him as an active, passionate and approachable member. WCCO adds that Minnesota authorities have obtained several videos of the incident for review, including one shot from the squad vehicle. The video showed blood oozing through Castile’s shirt as he appeared to lose consciousness.
“I posted that video so everyone across the world can know that we don’t do these things to ourselves, these things are done to us”, Reynolds said.
Court records dating to 2002 show Castile, a 32-year-old school cafeteria supervisor, averaged more than three traffic stops per year and received citations for misdemeanors or petty misdemeanors.
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He wanted to kill white people and white policemen, reported Dallas Police Chief David Brown at a news conference.
