Cops shoots off Castile’s arm as he reaches for his wallet and ID

Girlfriend Diamond Reynolds videotaped killing, was forced to her knees by cops, arrested

“My daughter has been stronger than me”–Diamond Reynolds

July 7, 2016

Philando Castile with mother; he was 10-year schools worker.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The girlfriend of Philando Castile, a Black man fatally shot by police during a traffic stop Wednesday night in Falcon Heights, spoke Thursday morning at a protest outside the Governor’s mansion in St. Paul.

“The police killed him in front of my daughter,” Diamond Reynolds said.

Castile, Reynolds and her 4-year-old daughter were in a vehicle in Falcon Heights that was pulled over by police for a broken tail light. Reynolds said Thursday the tail light was not broken.

An officer asked Castile for his ID, Reynolds says, and when he reached for his license and registration he told the officer he had a conceal-and-carry permit for a gun and he had the gun with him. Reynolds says that’s when an officer shot Castile four or five times.

UPDATE: The officer who killed Philando Castile has been identified as Jeronomino Yanez.

Jeronimo Yanez

He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

“We don’t have to go through this. The police did this to us. He was showing his identification, he was licensed to carry and he was reaching for his ID in his back pocket. He told the officer as he was reaching for his license that he was licensed to carry.

“Police took four or five shots for no reason. They took his life for no reason. They did this to my daughter and they did it to me, and I want justice and I want peace,” Reynolds said. “They took an innocent man away from us.”

Reynolds recorded a live video on Facebook immediately after the shooting that went viral. Her daughter is heard telling her towards the end, “It’s OK mommy, I’m here.”

“My daughter has been stronger than me. Without this little angel by my side, I would have never been able to make it through this. She told me she would never leave my side, and she’s been there through all of this,” Reynolds said.

incident sparked protests overnight that started at the shooting scene and eventually spilled over to the Governor’s mansion as they demanded justice from Mark Dayton.

Reynolds said she was taken into custody after the shooting and wasn’t released until 5 a.m. Thursday. She said they dropped her off at her doorstep.

“The police, the people that are supposed to serve and protect us, are not serving us and they are not protecting us. They are taking innocent people away from their families, innocent people off the streets and it’s not OK,” she said. “I will not be able to sleep until I get justice.”

Reynolds said Castile worked for St. Paul Public Schools for more than 10 years and never had a criminal record. He would’ve turned 35 in nine days.

“That man should not be home with his family, he should be somewhere in jail, handcuffed,” Reynolds said of the officer in the shooting. The officer has not been identified.

Video above: Castile’s mother, uncle, speak on CNN _____________________________________________________________

Protesters surround governor’s mansion after Philando Castile is killed by police

BY SUSAN DU

JULY 7, 2018

(Excerpt)

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton joined protesters later, said he has asked USDOJ to step in

By midnight, a crowd of about 50 people had formed across the street from the scene of the shooting. As investigators with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension gathered evidence from Castile’s abandoned white car, spectators castigated the cluster of police standing guard in the middle of the street. “You guys should be standing up against murder!” and “What about you detective, you got nothing to say? No ‘sorry this happened’?”

In attendance were Nekima Levy-Pounds of Minneapolis Black Lives Matter, Rashad Turner of St. Paul Black Lives Matter, longtime social justice advocate Mel Reeves, and a number of other leading local activists.

Protesters at gates to Governors mansion

Corydon Nilsson, an organizer for Black Lives Matter St. Paul and the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, headed straight for Larpenteur and Fry as soon as he saw the video about an hour after the shooting. “My heart’s been broken all day for the one in Baton Rouge, and then to see it here two miles from where I live, it’s too much,” he says. “I talked to a coworker earlier, he was a great guy, a normal guy, he had no oddities at all.”

Castile was a kitchen supervisor at J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School in St. Paul, and reportedly the father of the little girl who was in the back of the car at the time of the shooting.

“The video is pretty damning. The officer seems to know he screwed up toward the end,” Nilsson says. “I don’t know. I never believe a cop is going to get indicted, so I don’t wanna get my hopes up, but this one is pretty bad.”

All night protest at Minnesota governor’s mansion July 6-7, 2016.

Liliana Tenquist, a St. Paul teacher who also lives near the Falcon Heights neighborhood where Castile was shot, says her heart goes out to the students of J.J. Hill watching the news Wednesday night, and seeing their cook die on camera.

“[The officers] took an oath when they took that badge, and they need to take that oath very seriously,” Tenquist says. “It’s the same oath I take when I work with kids, to honor and serve and protect. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my students, and I feel an officer should take that approach too. It’s just disappointing when they don’t. It’s really saddening for those that do their jobs and do serve.”

Youth calls out for justice at Governor’s mansion

St. Anthony Police released a statement in the early morning that was short on details but confirmed that Castile was indeed deceased after having been taken to the hospital, and that the officer who fired the shots had been placed on standard administrative leave pending investigation.

When the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension finished at the scene of the shooting, police hosed down the street, and protesters traveled down to the governor’s mansion in St. Paul. There, hundreds of people amassed with banners, candles, and megaphones, to block off the stretch of Summit Avenue before Mark Dayton’s house.

Protesters sang, danced, and blared car horns to chants of “Wake them up!” when Dayton failed to appear at the gates to address them. Masked men wove caution tape through the wrought iron gate surrounding the mansion. Volunteers barred the main driveway and the back alley exit behind the house to prevent the governor from slipping away.

Police were hands off. One officer approached protesters to assure them that the Facebook video was indeed “very disturbing,” and that officers would stand watch just to protect their freedom of expression.

The demonstration lasted throughout the rainy night. By dawn, most protesters had dispersed from the Governor’s Residence, though a number held their ground. Dayton did not appear. (He finally showed up at the end of protest.)