MN - Philando Castile, 32, fatally shot by police officer, 6 July 2016 #2

[KaaBoom]

http://kstp.com/news/family-philando...probe/4230726/

"The family of a black man shot by a Minnesota police officer during a traffic stop is seeking a federal investigation into his death.

In a letter dated earlier this month, an attorney for the family of Philando Castile asks the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate, saying Castile was a victim of racial bias."



How is it 'racist' to stop someone who looks like an armed robber caught on video?

If the only reason the cop stopped them was because of their race, it is racist. I fail to see what other reason other then their race, there could have been to stop them.

 

[drjones]

i believe through his lawyer he said that he stopped PC because he resembled the armed robbery suspect, isnt there even a clip of him saying this from the scanner?

i remember looking at many pictures of PC and the robbery suspects and thinking there was a strong resemblance.

 

[katydid23]

If the only reason the cop stopped them was because of their race, it is racist. I fail to see what other reason other then their race, there could have been to stop them.

NO. The car was the same make and model as the get a way car, and both the driver and the front seat passenger, resembled the description of the robbery suspects. So how is that 'racist' to stop and check it out?

 

[animlzrule]

If the only reason the cop stopped them was because of their race, it is racist. I fail to see what other reason other then their race, there could have been to stop them.

Oh yes. The driver had a "broad nose", so the officer pulled him over. That's some fine police work there. :facepalm: He didn't even bother to come up with a plausible, rational explanation for pulling Mr. Castille over. That's how inconsequential POC were to that officer. Just pick out a black guy. Good enough.

 

[Jax49]

NO. The car was the same make and model as the get a way car, and both the driver and the front seat passenger, resembled the description of the robbery suspects. So how is that 'racist' to stop and check it out?

I missed the part about the car matching. Is there a link? TIA.

 

[jkly]

I missed the part about the car matching. Is there a link? TIA.

The only link to this information that I'm aware of is the conservative treehouse. I don't find that site reputable or reliable.

 

[jkly]

IMO, if the officer was that jittery and afraid that this guy was a possible bank robber that he would unload four bullets in him at the drop of a hat, he shouldn't have been pulling him over. Four bullets at such close range is overkill no matter how I look at it. Then there's the fact that he shot into a car that had a small child in it.

He does not sound in control or like he has any idea what he's doing in that video. He sounds hysterical. I don't think this was about anything Philando did. I think it's about what the cop was worried that he was going to do. This is where people allege there was some sort of subconscious bias at play.

I don't know about that but, if this was a misunderstanding, he didn't deserve to be shot. If he didn't put his hands up fast enough, he didn't deserve to be shot. If the cop didn't like the direction he was reaching in, he didn't deserve to be shot.

There are other reasons that he may not have immediately complied. Maybe Philando was nervous himself, maybe he didn't hear the officer correctly, maybe he misunderstood what the cop wanted. Claiming he must have done something wrong when there is really no evidence of that is not being fair to him. Especially when he can't defend himself and tell his side of the story.

The cop probably isn't a terrible person, but IMO, he behaved irresponsibly with a gun and someone is dead because of it. He deserves to be kicked off the police force and charged with manslaughter.

 

[jkly]

"He has a real sound ability when it comes to communicating and relating to people," Mangseth said. "He showed me that he could shine in that public eye."

In Castile's girlfriend's archived video of the aftermath of the shooting, Yanez is shown occasionally yelling expletives and pointing his gun at Castile as he lies bleeding in the driver's seat of the car.

"I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his hand off it!" he screams. The chief called Yanez's reaction common in a high-stress situation.

http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-chief-defends-officer-in-july-shooting-of-castile/390465381/

BBM. That doesn't sound like someone with a "real sound ability when it comes to communicating and relating to people."

 

[KaaBoom]

NO. The car was the same make and model as the get a way car, and both the driver and the front seat passenger, resembled the description of the robbery suspects. So how is that 'racist' to stop and check it out?

That is not what the police department has said, and that is not what the cop’s attorney has said. They were stopped for a broken tail light and because he looked like the suspect in an armed robbery, aka he was driving while black and the cop was looking for a black suspect, and we know that the broken tail light was a lie. So the cop is a liar. Which leaves the only reason for the stop, their race.

You can spin this anyway you like, but that doesn’t change the fact that this was 100% about racism. So go ahead and continue to act all confused about it, if you don’t want to look at the facts of the case.

The attorney for the St. Anthony police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop last weeksaid his client pulled him over because the vehicle he was driving had a broken tail light and because Castile looked like a suspect in a recent nearby armed robbery.

http://www.twincities.com/2016/07/1...heights-shooting-police-scanner-traffic-stop/

 

[Elley Mae]

Both suspects in the July 2 robbery were described as black men with shoulder-length or longer dreadlocks.

http://www.startribune.com/police-a...ndo-castile-on-robbery-suspicion/386344001/#1

 

[i.b.nora]

http://www.startribune.com/police-a...ndo-castile-on-robbery-suspicion/386344001/#1

“Albert Goins, an attorney who assisted the Castile family in the hours following the shooting, said that if Castile were indeed a robbery suspect, officers would have initiated a felony traffic stop, which “does not usually involve officers walking up to your car and asking you to produce your driver’s license.”

“A felony stop involves bringing the suspect out at gunpoint while officers are in a position of cover and having them lie on the ground until they can identify who that individual is,” he said.

With regard to the audio, Goins said, “I can’t imagine that it’s reasonable suspicion to make a stop because somebody had a broad nose.””​

 

[drjones]

we already covered it so i wont repeat it all, but read up on pretext stops and you might get some insight as to how the officer chose to proceed in this case.

 

[Jax49]

http://pix11.com/2016/08/20/cop-who-fatally-shot-philando-castile-is-back-at-work/

Officer Jeronimo Yanez returned to work this Wednesday in an administrative role, a month after he fatally shot Castile during a traffic stop.

 

[KaaBoom]

http://pix11.com/2016/08/20/cop-who-fatally-shot-philando-castile-is-back-at-work/

They a re just going on with business as usual. Nothing ever changes.

 

[animlzrule]

High School Alumni Create Scholarship To Honor Philando Castile

“We all had a lot of rage and anger and grief, and we decided to channel that,” Karla Basta, an organizer from the class of 2001, told the Tribune. “Central is a really loyal school, and this was all done by Central alumni.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...4b03d513689c5bc?ir=College&utm_hp_ref=college

 

[jkly]

They a re just going on with business as usual. Nothing ever changes.

Revolting. How about an apology?

Oh right, then they'd have to admit one of their police officers did something wrong and shot someone who most likely was not a threat anywhere except in his vivid, trigger happy imagination.

 

[Jax49]

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/08/17/chief-defends-yanez/

More than a month later, Yanez was expected to return to work for the first time Wednesday, Chief Jon Mangseth said. Yanez will perform desk duties and other administrative work until the investigation is completed and charging decisions are made, the chief said.
Mangseth wouldn’t discuss any details of the shooting, including what prompted the traffic stop that preceded Castile’s death, citing the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s ongoing review of the incident.

 

[Elley Mae]

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/08/17/chief-defends-yanez/

Police officers are routinely placed on administrative leave after a shooting incident while an investigation is conducted, without implying fault on the part of the officer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_leave


Normal procedure till after an investigation is complete, makes perfect sense.

 

[SophieRose]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/minnesota-officer-fatally-shot-castile-back-leave-190513465.html

The Minnesota police officer who fatally shot a black man during a traffic stop last month is back on administrative leave after briefly returning to limited duty last week, the city of St. Anthony said in a statement Wednesday.

The city said it decided to put Officer Jeronimo Yanez back on leave "after reviewing concerns and other feedback from the community."

 

[K_Z]

Philando Castile Protesters Nix Plea Deals in I-94 Shutdown

August 28, 2016 07:13 AM

Most of the 50 people charged in a protest that shut down Interstate 94 in St. Paul over the police shooting of Philando Castile have rejected plea deals.

They made their first appearances Friday in Ramsey County District Court. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports the city offered a plea bargain in which each protester's riot and unlawful assembly charges would be dropped in return for a guilty plea to public nuisance, with a fine of $50 and a 30-day stayed sentence.

All but one of the protesters opted to continue their cases instead and schedule second hearings for this fall.

http://kstp.com/news/philando-castile-protesters-nix-plea-deals-interstate-94-shutdown/4247687/

http://www.twincities.com/2016/08/2...otesters-reject-plea-deal-over-i-94-shutdown/

The charging documents say that about 300 protesters were blocking traffic on the interstate when some began throwing “rocks, cement chunks, rebar, bottles, and other items” at police and ignored orders to disperse.

The city offered a plea bargain in which each protester’s third-degree riot and unlawful assembly charges would be dropped in return for a guilty plea to public nuisance.

The protesters who take the deal would also be fined $50 and court costs and be given a 30-day stayed jail sentence. The sentence will be served only if they commit an offense during a year of unsupervised probation.

All but one of the protesters charged with third-degree riot continued their cases and scheduled second hearings for this fall.

A VERY GENEROUS offer by the prosecutor to plea the charges down, refused. Let's look at what the penalty for the existing charges is.

Riot and Unlawful Assembly

Almost all states have laws against riot and unlawful assembly. Under Minnesota’s laws, a riot is three or more people gathered together to use or threaten force, violence, or property damage. Riot is punished more severely if anyone is armed with a deadly weapon or if someone dies as a result of the riot.

Unlawful assembly is a gathering of three or more people:

intending to commit an unlawful act by force
disturbing or threatening the public peace, or
intending to do anything in a way that disturbs or threatens public peace.
It is also a crime in Minnesota to refuse to leave an unlawful assembly. For example, a group of twenty protestors at a national political rally who approached the police with their faces obscured, and yelled obscenities and insults, could be prosecuted for unlawful assembly and riot.

(Minn. Stat. §§ 609.705, 609.71, 609.715.)

Punishment

Disorderly conduct is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail or a fine up to $1,000, or both. Disorderly conduct by a caregiver of a vulnerable adult is punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of not more than $3,000, or both.

Unlawful assembly and refusing to disperse from an unlawful assembly are also misdemeanors, punishable by up to six months in jail or a fine up to $1,000, or both. Riot is punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. Anyone who is armed with a deadly weapon or knows that another rioter is armed can be convicted of a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, or a fine of not more than $10,000, or both. If someone dies, anyone who is armed can be sentenced up to 20 years’ imprisonment, a fine of not more than $35,000, or both.

(Minn. Stat. §§ 609.705, 609.71, 609.715, 609.72.)

http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/disorderly-conduct-minnesota.htm

Bold and color by me.

From where I'm sitting, each of the charged rioters should, at a minimum (some have additional charges for assault, etc) receive 18 months jail time and a $2000 fine. IMO, there is no possibly way any of them will be found "innocent" of the unlawful assembly and riot charges, as ALL of them were arrested rioting, throwing bricks at motorists and police, and blockading traffic ON THE FREEWAY. There is no rational way for a defense attorney to spin that into some kind of peaceful, lawful assembly, or "peaceful protest". They are guilty as charged. And HUNDREDS should have been arrested, not just 50.

It's time to send a strong message that riot behavior and unlawful assembly is not a "peaceful protest", or "frustration", or "unrest." It's criminal behavior, and should be charged and sentenced as such.

I'm disgusted that pleas to lesser charges were even offered, but since those arrested and charged have the audacity to refuse the very generous plea deals, take them to trial. I'm fine with that.