Yesterday, in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, Philando Castile was shot and killed by a police officer. Mr. Castile was Black, and the police officer’s race has not been identified, but Diamond Reynolds, the woman Castile was driving with (her child was in the car as well) identified him as possibly being “Chinese”.
Here is a video – taken by Ms. Reynolds after the shooting took place. Please be aware that it is extremely disturbing:
What do we know about this, other than the video and Ms. Reynold’s account? Nothing.
Why would a police officer have his gun drawn for a simple traffic stop? Did something happen before the video was taken that might answer that question? We don’t know – at least not yet.
Should we, therefore, be jumping to conclusions, or waiting until as many facts as possible come out?
The answer is obvious.
Let’s wait.
UPDATE: The officer who shot Philandro Castile has been identified as Jeronimo Yanez, 28 years old and a four year veteran of the St. Anthony, MN, police force. Here is a picture of Officer Yanez from 2014:
Does that name sound sound “White” to you? Does that name sound “Chinese” to you — and isn’t that what Philandro Castile’s female passenger said he was?
Another excellent reason to WAIT UNTIL WE HAVE THE FACTS.
I assume more are coming. Let’s find out what they are before making conclusions.
That OK with you, Governor Dayton? President Obama? Or does it make too much sense?
I have been reading about this at many websites. I find hard to believe that a lot of people are making judgements without any kind of proof. It boggles the mind. Now the Min. Governor has come out and called it a racist incident. This is nuts.
I wonder if this genius is aware that the officer apparently is not White.
Ken, when you watched the video did you notice the woman’s story of what happened changed???
I noticed at the start of the video the woman says he was reaching for his license to comply with the police officers instructions when he was shot and then later when she was in the back of the police car she says he was putting his hands up to comply with the police officers instructions when he was shot.
Which is it???