Video released after officer acquitted
The Minnesota police officer who pulled over Philando Castile politely told the driver that his brake lights were out and calmly instructed him not to pull out his handgun before suddenly drawing his own weapon and firing seven rounds into the car, a video shows.
The dashboard video taken from St Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez’s squad car illustrated how a simple traffic stop of a black man shifted in an instant from a routine exchange to a deadly confrontation.
When Yanez opened fire, another officer near the car jumped back, and Yanez began yelling at the driver. As more police and an ambulance arrived, Yanez can be heard breathing heavily and swearing and trying to explain his actions to fellow officers.
The video was made public, just days after the Latino officer was acquitted on all counts in the case. Although the squad-car footage was described repeatedly and was shown to jurors in the courtroom, it had never been made public until yesterday.
The shooting on July 6 last year in the Twin Cities suburb of Falcon Heights gained widespread attention because Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, livestreamed its gruesome aftermath on Facebook. Unlike Reynolds’ video, the squad-car video shows the situation’s quick escalation and the shooting itself.
Yanez, who was found not guilty of manslaughter and other charges, began firing only seconds after Castile told the officer he had a gun.
“Sir, I have to tell you, I do have a firearm on me,” Castile said.
Before Castile finished that sentence, Yanez began pulling his weapon out of the holster.
Yanez said, “Okay. Don’t reach for it then.” He told the driver twice more not to pull out the weapon and then started firing into the car. After the firing ends, he screamed, “Don’t pull it out!” Castile, a 32-year-old elementary school cafeteria worker, had a permit to carry the weapon.
Steven Belton, the black president and CEO of the Minneapolis Urban League, said the footage was “powerfully painful” and that Castile was “gunned down like a rabid animal”.
Bekuh Sibet, 29, a waitress, said it was obvious to her from the video that Castile was complying. “I feel like it’s 10 times worse now,” said Sibet, who is white. — AP