Attorney: Officer Who Shot Philando Castile Reacted To Gun, Not Race

I understand the gravity of all of that, because this has become something that people have expressed a lot of concern about. They may be working toward change private; we don’t know. Or was he targeted by officers who single out black motorists like him for such stops, as several of his family members have alleged?

For third time in as many days President Barack Obama spoke about persisting racial tension on Saturday – but rejected the idea that this week’s violence implied a return to the country’s dark past.

Celebrities including Beyoncé, John Legend and Lady Gaga have also voiced outrage over Sterling and Castile’s deaths, which occurred in Louisiana and Minnesota.

Philando Castile was telling the truth. In the video, she says Castile was legally licensed to carry a firearm and was reaching for his identification when the officer opened fire.

“He killed my boyfriend”, said the woman, whose Facebook page names her as Lavish Reynolds. Over and over I watched the video, trying to imagine being in that vehicle, while at the same time feeling shame about watching a stranger who is mortally wounded. “We want to hold space for those of us who are mourning, in pain, and want to be around others”. Castile had no such luck.

“You just feel your stomach drop, when I saw that it was them”, Dobratz said.

The other was on the ground with police officers on top of him in Louisiana when someone shouted “He has a gun!”

At a vigil Thursday evening outside a Montessori school where Castile worked, his mother, Valerie Castile called her son “an angel”. She said the officer didn’t follow “proper procedures”.

The demonstrations in Baton Rouge had been largely peaceful, but there were some tense moments Friday night and early Saturday. Mangseth said he did not have details about the reason for the traffic stop, but that at some point shots were fired. A shiver. Not again. Overall, officers stopped minority drivers at greater rates than whites and searched them at greater rates, but found contraband in those searches at lower rates than whites. He was killed by a robot-delivered bomb after a standoff with police. The perception of the scary black man still exists.

That video-and the sympathy and sweetness showed by the people who the police officers are sworn to protect-won’t wash away the sadness that have enveloped us this week.

Reynolds said Castile was shot while reaching for his wallet. Authorities identified the Dallas shooter as an Army veteran who was later killed by police.

“He shot his arm off”, we hear Castile’s girlfriend saying on the video. “We’ve been here probably an hour, the whole family is here, and they won’t let us see him”. In Chicago today, no one will be surprised if a child is killed in gang crossfire.

Nationally, 13 percent of black drivers were pulled over at least once in 2011, compared with 10 percent of the white drivers, according to a survey by the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. Will police still give black neighborhoods protection?

“We learned to survive apart, now we must learn to live together”. She won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary. Yanez has received two, both in 2014, for violating snow emergency parking restrictions and for what appears to be missing license plates or tabs.