[Falcon Heights] Woman goes live on Facebook after boyfriend is shot by police

So, the prosecution never got the interview of Yanez, shortly after the shooting, into evidence. In that interview Yanez was very vague about seeing a gun. I suspect the defense would have argued that Yanez was shaken and not thinking clearly. The prosecution intended to use it to impugn Yanez during his testimony but the judge would not allow it. So, the jury could not consider it.

 

I meant that in my opinion it's not debatable but I realize that some people would feel differently.

Sorry for the confusion

 

I'm going to share what I posted on facebook about the situation. To add for some context Philando Castile's mother Valerie Castille has specifically gone after the state of Minnesota and many speakers at last night's protest did too. Many carried signs that had a Minnesota license plate with the word "SHAME" on it and people have gone after the the idea of "Minnesota Nice". I've had my own problems with the idea of "Minnesota Nice" but in this case Castile's family and many are arguing that that idea is covering up an entrenched racism as deep as any state in the South.

I went to the protest following the verdict in the Philando Castile trial at the Minnesota State Capital and for me I have many mixed emotions about the whole situation. The pain and anger of the Castile family is very real, very legitimate and understandable. Having a loved one taken away so violently and unpredictably and then having to see the person that did it walk away exonerated by a court of law must feel like losing your loved one twice. It's easy to say that we had a trial and Officer Yanez was found not guilty and we should respect the verdict. If it had been a member of my family or someone else that I deeply cared about I'm not sure I wouldn't want to f*** the system up either.

At the sametime though I am someone who has trained with law enforcement and have students who have gone into law enforcement. I also understand how difficult and dangerous of a job law enforcement is. We hear it often repeated but from my own experience it is true. Most police are good people who believe in what they are doing and truly care about protecting all. That shouldn't excuse that there are many who don't but we need to be very careful about falling into the view that all law enforcement is evil.

I've seen cities burn and I've been assaulted by anti-police protesters. I've also been threatened by police, almost been clubbed by an officer and had a flash bang thrown at me by an officer even though I wasn't even part of the protest he was there to control. I've seen both sides and and a war between the police and those who they are supposed to protect isn't a path I would like to see this country, this state or this city go down. As much as I can sympathize and understand the anger of Philando Castile's family I can't support the anti-police rhetoric or calls to burn it down.

There are still very deep problems between Law Enforcement and many communities they are sworn to protect and serve. Detroit and Watts burned 50 years ago. Los Angeles and many other cities burned 25 years ago. Last year Ferguson and Baltimore burned. Trite answers like if people just completely submitted to police they wouldn't get killed are not helpful nor are calls to f*** the police. As a society we still need to work out many issues. I don't see any of that happening soon and honestly there will be more Philando Castiles and cities burning before things really change.

 

What seems to be clear in the vast majority of these shootings is the lack of training or the lack of following that training. As someone on the sideline, it seems that as soon as Castile told the officer he had a gun, Yanez's command should have been, "OK....I no longer want to see your license, keep your hands on the steering wheel". (Castile had already produced his proof of insurance) Yanez never said anything about keeping his hands where he could see them. He just said something like "don't reach for it". Castile's last words were "I wasn't reaching for it". Now, we can all sit around and say, well, Castile should have put his hands on the wheel anyway. First, if the police aren't properly trained or not following that training, then why should a non-officer be expected to follow "their" training? If the excuse for the officer is that he reacted the way he did (perhaps by not following his training), because of stress or fear, why can't the excuse of the citizen be that he acted the way he did out of stress or fear?

When this case first came to light and Yanez indicated he pulled over Castile because he was a suspect in an armed robbery. I asked a friend who is a former HPD officer if, in his training, he was taught to call for backup in a situation like that (pulling over a suspect who is potentially armed), he replied "yes". Yanez never did that. So, he was either never trained to do that or he failed at following his training. Also, if Yanez truly thought Castile was a suspect, Yanez should have immediately told this possible armed felon to keep his hands where they could be seen.

 

Way too much sense in this one sentence.

 

You can train someone, but when you have cops like Yanez who are too scared of black people whats going to happen. They are going to start panicking. That is why they should have sent this guy to jail. If you screw up at your job so bad you need to have consequences.

 

It's very much a license to kill, to those that abuse it or isn't properly trained or doesn't have the capacity. The claim of 'i was fear for my life' can be made every single time and how can you disprove that? The standard is too low. At minimum, someone making such a massive and lethal mistake should not ever be allowed back. But no, there is no automatic firing and in fact, the city have to negotiate a settlement to let him go and he is free to join another PD elsewhere.

Of course, part of the issue is our society is gun happy. Too many guns and so it's indeed understandable that cops will often be fearful. But that doesn't excuse away massive mistake.

 

So, have there been any good riots since we found out that they weren't going to lynch the police officer?

 

Heard on the news a ton of protests around the country, a big one in Minneapolis obviously. I hope they stay peaceful, but that doesn't seem to be the case so far.

 

that's disappointing

wanting to see good riots -bobby

 

Well protests are one thing, I'm glad if they have been peaceful this time around. Riots are kind of expected when coming to the defense of a criminal like Michael Brown but Philandro Castile by all accounts was a good person and it would be a shame if they acted like fools in his name.

Expecting to see something isn't the same as wanting to see it. I would expect a 90 year old trying to jump a dirtbike to crash and die, but I wouldn't want that to happen.

 

18 arrested in Minnesota last night as a result of protesting, likely could have been more.

 

So, had he been found guilty it would have been a lynching?

 

It would be an example of a person being imprisoned unjustly simply because something happened to someone of a different race and the masses felt the need to punish someone for it regardless of circumstance. I mean, I guess it's a step forward from burning crosses in people's front yards and hanging them from trees, but it's still the same mentality especially when the reaction to not getting the wrongful imprisonment is to riot which is the case all too often.

 

So, just to be clear, since a jury found him not guilty, he was truly not guilty in your mind?

 

The guys that killed Emmet till we're not guilty too now of course...

Just b.c he the jury found him not guilty doesn't mean it is so, seems like they did a shitty job of picking it

 

He was never guilty though.

 

How do you know that?

 

Him actually not being guilty of a crime had nothing to do with the court, but if you don't want to look into what happened and how the law would be applied in that situation then I guess you could go on what the court ruled. It was a tragic situation for sure, but when you are armed and in that situation you can't be reaching for anything.....especially when the cop is telling you specifically not to reach for anything and not to pull anything out. If you do then you are giving the officer legal justification to shoot you to prevent you from continuing to disobey commands by reaching for whatever you are reaching for. You can't expect the officer to read your mind and know that you are not a threat so when they tell you to stop doing something, in that situation you stop doing it.

In that situation since he was armed and not following commands, the officer had reason to use the force he used even though it later proved unnecessary. It's also the reason why I wouldn't recommend people who struggle with following commands to be carrying a handgun in public. The appropriate action in that situation is to keep your hands in front of you either on the wheel or on the dashboard and wait to be disarmed. You don't reach for ANYTHING in that situation. You have to understand exactly how dangerous of a situation you are in and respond appropriately. That's the burden you are accepting when you decide to carry in public.....and it's why I don't.

 

So, the untrained, non-officer is expected to know exactly what to do and not be stressed or panicked with a gun pointed at him in all of these cases? Meanwhile the officer, while saying "don't reach for it", never said to "put your hands on the wheel" or "keep your hands where I can see them" gets a pass because he was in fear?

Not only that, you would think an officer who admittedly stopped a guy in a car because he resembled an armed robbery suspect would have already been on high alert and immediately told this suspected armed felon to keep his hands where he could see them. One would also think he and his partner would have had a better plan when encountering a suspected armed felon rather than treat it as a routine traffic stop. Seems to be that at the very least the officer was criminally negligent in the performance of his duties. Of course all that goes out the window if he didn't really think he was a suspected armed felon.