*After watching the video of Jeronimo Yanez, the Minnesota police officer who shot and killed Philando Castile, all we say is damn, damn, damn. 🙁
Actually if we did say more, it emulate exactly what Castile’s mother, Valerie, said in her “f*ck the police” rant on Facebook Live after Yanez’s not guilty verdict was announced. It’s hard to watch Yanez kill Castile and not empathize with his mother.
If you watch the video, you’ll see that during a traffic stop last year Yanez fired a volley of bullets within seconds of learning the driver was armed, according to a video recording released publicly Tuesday.
When the traffic stop began, the two men interacted calmly. Officer Jeronimo Yanez, a police officer in the Twin Cities suburbs, greeted Castile and examined his insurance card.
“Sir, I have to tell you that I do have a firearm on me,” Castile said 30 seconds after they began speaking.
“Okay,” Yanez interrupted his voice remaining steady as he shifted his right hand onto the holster of his gun.
RELATED NEWS: GAME OVER: PHILANDO CASTILE’S MOTHER VALERIE GETS REAL RAW WHILE VENTING ON FB LIVE ABOUT NOT GUILTY VERDICT (WATCH)
Yanez told Castile not to reach for the gun or pull it out. Castile said he was not, which was echoed by Diamond Reynolds, his girlfriend, sitting in the Oldsmobile’s passenger seat.
“I’m not pulling it out,” Castile responded. Yanez again yelled: “Don’t pull it out!” He then unholstered his gun and pushed it into the car.
“Don’t pull it out!” Yanez yelled. “I’m not!” Castile said as Yanez, seven seconds after being told of the gun, began firing into the car.
The moments after quickly made their way around the world, as Reynolds began streaming live on Facebook, pleading with Castile to “stay with me” while blood soaked into his T-shirt. Castile died not long after. Spurred by Reynolds’s video, that fatal shooting in July 2016 became part of the country’s roiling debate about how police officers use deadly force.
At this point, the jury – and in particular, the one black male jurist – that voted to NOT convict Yanez, have a lot to explain as far as we’re concerned. In the meantime, the police department that Yanez was employed by at the time of the shooting, fired him after the trial.
You can read/learn MORE at the Washington Post.
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