Officer Jeronimo Yanez will be charged for shooting Philando Castile

[BluesStringer]

The question is whether the prosecution values Castile's life sufficiently more than Yanez's career to point that out.

It is not a question in my mind.

 

[bofh]

Link Removed!

 

[Reba]

I hope the community stays calm.

 

[BluesStringer]

Link Removed!

I didn't have to be prescient at all to call that one the day after the "justified" homicide by government.

 

[bofh]

About that "informing the officer to put him at ease": Dash Camera Shows Moment Philando Castile Is Shot

 

[bofh]

Colion Noir | Philando Castile Should Be Alive Today My Open Letter:

"What the ****! What the ****! What the ****!”. We were four black teens in a shitty station wagon looking for a place to play basketball until we realized we were lost. All I can hear is my best friend in the backseat yelling over and over again, “What the ****! What the ****! What the ****!” and the cop outside of the station wagon with his gun pointed directly at me yelling, “Don’t ******* move, roll the window down, don’t ******* move!"

We pulled up next to a parked cop car to ask him for directions. When we realized there was no one in the car, we reversed to leave, but before my friend could put the vehicle in drive, a cop jumps out of a van next to the police car with his gun pointed right at me. To this day I still feel a little guilty about the relief I felt when the cop made his way from my side to the driver side of the car and pointed the gun inches away from my friends head instead of mine.

My friend's eyes were closed, and his hands were straight up. I could see the gun inches from his temple. My friend rambled, "we're lost, we're lost, directions, directions, we just wanted directions." My friend in the back seat was still yelling. I just stared at the gun waiting for my life to change forever.

Eventually, everything was sorted out, but the whole ordeal messed me up. We were good kids who never got in any trouble. All we wanted to do was ask for directions. I couldn’t understand why the cop felt so threatened by us. I remember asking myself, If we were four white teens would he have acted the same way? I don’t know, but the fact that I have to ask that question at such an age should tell you something.

I despise race baiting. Race baiting cheapens and undermines every legitimate cry of racial injustice and breeds a sense of apathy in people who would otherwise be sympathetic to such cries but feel the discussion of race is a zero-sum game they can never win.

However, there is also a problem with some people in this country dismissing racism wholesale when it isn't overt racial slurs or crosses burning on front lawns. Covert racism is a real thing and is very dangerous. Covert racism works the same way anti-gunners use coded language to push gun control. They say common sense gun measures, but we know what they really mean. We gun advocates spend our time trying to prove to the people that they don't just want background checks they want to ban guns. The problem is, they don't come right out and say,"give me all your guns" so no one believes us, but we know the effects are incredibly real. That's what covert racism is and does.

In The case of officer Jeronimo Yanez, I don’t feel he woke up that day wanting to shoot a black person. However, I keep asking myself, would he have done the same thing if Philando were white? As I put on my Monday morning quarterback Jersey, it is my opinion that Philando Castile should be alive today. I believe there was a better way to handle the initial stop. If he suspected Philando was a suspect in a robbery, there were ways to conduct that stop in a way that would have completely avoided the shooting altogether, but Yanez neglected to do so.

Beyond that point, things get a little fuzzy for me. Other than Yanez's testimony, there is nothing I read about the trial or any newly revealed facts to suggest that Philando was going for his gun. However, I don’t know what Yanez saw that made him think Philando was going for the gun, I wasn’t there, and I only have his words to go by. Sadly, Philando isn't here to tell us other than his last dying statement of, “I wasn’t reaching for it”.

Personally, I feel because Yanez pulled Philando over under
The suspicion that he was a robbery suspect coupled with the presence of a gun, it put Yanez in a heightened state. I feel he lost control of his wits and overreacted. This now brings me to the question of race. Do I think Yanez felt threatened by the fact that Philando was black? It's very possible Yanez was indifferent about Philando's race. However, because of the negative stereotype reinforced in the media about black men and guns, it wouldn't completely surprise me if Yanez felt more threatened by Philando because he was black. This is the same negative stereotype that I've been trying to combat for years now.

Legally, I'm left asking myself, was Yanez failing to conduct a proper felony stop reckless or negligent enough to warrant a Second Degree Manslaughter conviction? As a lawyer, I'm hard pressed to think so. But the young black male in me says hell yes. Admittedly, I don’t have all the facts the jury had; I didn’t hear the testimony the jury heard. Maybe after hearing his testimony they believe Yanez honestly felt his life was in danger and justifiably so. However, I have to be honest and say, he shouldn’t be able to just walk away freely without legal consequence I just don't know what that consequence should be.

I so badly wanted to keep race out of this. There are so many professional race baiters who thrive on and become rich from increasing the racial divide in this country. Because of this racial opportunism, it makes it hard to call out the more insidious elements of racism in this country vs. the isolated incidences where race doesn't play a factor. Then again, considering other examples where "race" was legitimately a factor In previous shootings, I think it would be irresponsible not to consider race as a possible motive in this shooting.

All that being said, Philando Should be alive today. In my eyes, Yanez screwed up big time. I don’t feel he was out to take a black life that day, but it doesn’t matter because his actions cost Phliando his life. My legal mind can see why they couldn’t get to Manslaughter in the Second Degree based solely on the facts at hand, but Yanez walking away from this case a free and clear man is just wrong.

Also posted on TwitLonger.

 

[BluesStringer]

About that "informing the officer to put him at ease": Dash Camera Shows Moment Philando Castile Is Shot

The worst, and last, mistake the poor guy ever made.

Just a run-of-the-mill mistake for Yanez though. A little higher in level, financially-speaking, than fighting a reckless driving charge, but not near as high as if he was convicted for that same reckless driving charge. He'd at least have gotten five or 10 days in jail for such a charge. Nothing but lawyer bills for murdering someone though.

Blues

 

[niceshootintex]

I cannot be made to understand why a citizen that is legally concealed carrying would EVER find it necessary to volunteer that information to a LEO in any state other than a shall disclose state.

If they did nothing wrong and it was a routine traffic stop (taillight out for example), just follow the protocol and play along with the drill. Declaring a firearm in a voluntary manner borders on masochism.

The Place To Be

 

[bofh]

I cannot be made to understand why a citizen that is legally concealed carrying would EVER find it necessary to volunteer that information to a LEO in any state other than a shall disclose state.

If they did nothing wrong and it was a routine traffic stop (taillight out for example), just follow the protocol and play along with the drill. Declaring a firearm in a voluntary manner borders on masochism.

The Place To Be

Well, Philando Castile was shot in Minnesota, where a lawful carrier must immediately inform an officer on initial contact. Remember, the criminal does not, as he has his 5th Amendment right against self incrimination.

I agree with you that if it is not mandated by law, it is foolish to inform the officer voluntarily, even if you think you are in a "gun friendly" state. You have no idea what this officer's political views are and what day he had so far.

 

[skeeter35]

If he was in fact someone who matched the description of a robbery suspect then a felony stop should have been initiated. Officer should have had suspect get out of vehicle hands up or visible at all times then lay face down on pavement cuff him he would have found the firearm and suspect would be alive today. Now it's very easy to Monday morning quarterback which is not what I'm here to do. But it's scary sometimes the lack of training that some police officers have. If you watch a lot of COPS on TV I know it's cheesy right but you can clearly distinguish the well trained officers and the ones who will eventually have problems in the field. Police work isn't for everyone, some trainees have never picked up a firearm before they get to the academy. Then they are not trained to the level that they need to be. It's a sad situation and in seeing that video I think white brown yellow or green he would've pulled that trigger bc he was not properly equipped or trained for that type of situation.


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[BluesStringer]

Castile did not "in fact" match the description of the robbery suspect. There are surveillance photos from the robbery that do not comport at all with the cops', or cop-supporters', assertion that Castile matched the description of the robber, except for only one similarity - they were both black. Photos and comparative analysis (by me) can be found here.

It's not even clear still that a taillight was out on the car Castile was driving. The whole stop and shooting was wrong on every level. He was profiled and murdered, and the murderer can now go find a job in another LE agency thanks to an intentionally weak prosecution or an incompetent prosecutor.

Blues

 

[skeeter35]

Castile did not "in fact" match the description of the robbery suspect. There are surveillance photos from the robbery that do not comport at all with the cops', or cop-supporters', assertion that Castile matched the description of the robber, except for only one similarity - they were both black. Photos and comparative analysis (by me) can be found here.

It's not even clear still that a taillight was out on the car Castile was driving. The whole stop and shooting was wrong on every level. He was profiled and murdered, and the murderer can now go find a job in another LE agency thanks to an intentionally weak prosecution or an incompetent prosecutor.

Blues

God I hope he never holds a firearm again.


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[niceshootintex]

I have given a few here grief over bagging on the NRA but if they don't come out with a statement, and fast, on the murder of a legal CC citizen in the case of Castile then they can expect my membership to lapse. This is supposed to be their moment, regardless of the phony verdict, and they are shrinking violets. Crickets. Something is wrong here.

The Place To Be

 

[BluesStringer]

I have given a few here grief over bagging on the NRA but if they don't come out with a statement, and fast, on the murder of a legal CC citizen in the case of Castile then they can expect my membership to lapse. This is supposed to be their moment, regardless of the phony verdict, and they are shrinking violets. Crickets. Something is wrong here.

Something has been wrong with the NRA since their inception. That's not me saying it, it's a former VP of the NRA. If you scroll down to the first through third pictures in that post, and read the text directly preceding and in-between them, you will see the irrefutable evidence of same.

Absolutely nothing confrontational, sarcastic or critical in any way is intended by this post. It's simply information intended to help you understand the true nature of the .org that you are figuring out aren't what they claim to be on your own.

Blues

 

[niceshootintex]

Something has been wrong with the NRA since their inception. That's not me saying it, it's a former VP of the NRA. If you scroll down to the first through third pictures in that post, and read the text directly preceding and in-between them, you will see the irrefutable evidence of same.

Absolutely nothing confrontational, sarcastic or critical in any way is intended by this post. It's simply information intended to help you understand the true nature of the .org that you are figuring out aren't what they claim to be on your own.

Blues

At one point in the post you talk about how much it matters what they did 40 years ago in concert with what they are doing today.

I have been a member for 20+ years but haven't really looked back beyond the AWB which is why I joined in the first place. I need to know more and intend to.

At this point in time, I care tremendously about this particular murder of a CC citizen because it hits very close to home. I am far less inclined to ratchet down my LEO support because I have friends and relatives that are good cops that do real policing.

This cop was either really poorly trained, led, or mentored. It starts with the Sheriff and CoP level and the good ones will ignore the political landscape and Constitutionally deaf, dumb, and blind state AG's. They respect their citizens and their rights.

The NRA is completely derelict in their duties if there is any semblance of 2A conscience in their leadership. I watch that shooting video and am disgusted. I intend to speak with my wallet if they don't prove to their membership NOW that this was an execution of a legal CC and that they too are as pissed as I am. And DOING something about it.

The Place To Be

 

[Frisco85132]

At one point in the post you talk about how much it matters what they did 40 years ago in concert with what they are doing today.

I have been a member for 20+ years but haven't really looked back beyond the AWB which is why I joined in the first place. I need to know more and intend to.

At this point in time, I care tremendously about this particular murder of a CC citizen because it hits very close to home. I am far less inclined to ratchet down my LEO support because I have friends and relatives that are good cops that do real policing.

This cop was either really poorly trained, led, or mentored. It starts with the Sheriff and CoP level and the good ones will ignore the political landscape and Constitutionally deaf, dumb, and blind state AG's. They respect their citizens and their rights.

The NRA is completely derelict in their duties if there is any semblance of 2A conscience in their leadership. I watch that shooting video and am disgusted. I intend to speak with my wallet if they don't prove to their membership NOW that this was an execution of a legal CC and that they too are as pissed as I am. And DOING something about it.

The Place To Be

You had me until you characterized the tragic killing of Castile as an "execution". Casual definitions create hysteric rhetoric.

I watched the video repeatedly and what I saw was a poorly trained officer in "bare and unreasonable fear" for his life which caused him to fire when he should NOT have fired. Bare and unreasonable fear is NOT a justification for the use of deadly force. Justification only comes with reasonable fear that you are in "immediate and otherwise unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily harm", not merely being scared shitless which is what Yanez appeared to be. Castile's death was a tragic incident of negligent homicide caused by a decent man, but an incompetent officer who was unreasonably afraid. The pleading in Yanez's voice was not one of malice, but one of bare fear. He was not in control of his fear or his trigger finger, but that was incompetence not malice.

To call this an "execution" you have to attach malicious intent and I don't see malicious intent. I see, again, bare and unreasonable fear of a man who was not in control of the situation and a man was tragically killed. I can't make the connection that Yanez got out of bed, put on his uniform, and thought "I'm gonna smoke me a black guy today", or more to the point when he pulled over Castile "I'm gonna smoke THIS black guy today" and coldly and cooly kills him.

When I watched the video, the most telling part of it was the second officer on the passenger side. When Yanez told Castile not to reach for his gun, the second officer who was at a presumptive position of visual advantage (and would/should have seen a gun as it was supposed/alleged to be on Castile's right side) looked at Yanez like "WTF? I don't see a gun!" and he didn't react by drawing his gun to cover/defend a brother officer from a lethal threat. The second officer bunny hopped out of the line of fire with a shocked look on his face, and I believe this is because the threat HE perceived was from the rounds issuing from Yanez's weapon, not from a threat from Castile.

If you look at the time elapsing, I don't believe there was enough time for the second officer to reset his OODA loop from "WTF?" to "DON'T SHOOT!" and he was just trying to de-ass the line of fire to keep himself from catching incoming rounds.

I want to see an entire transcript of the second officer's testimony and not the parsed and edited bits in the paper, so if anyone finds it, please link it here. If the second officer testified that HE saw a gun, or saw Castile reaching for one...then I want to know why HE didn't take defensive action and also give orders for Castile to stop??????

 

[niceshootintex]

You had me until you characterized the tragic killing of Castile as an "execution". Casual definitions create hysteric rhetoric.

I watched the video repeatedly and what I saw was a poorly trained officer in "bare and unreasonable fear" for his life which caused him to fire when he should NOT have fired. Bare and unreasonable fear is NOT a justification for the use of deadly force. Justification only comes with reasonable fear that you are in "immediate and otherwise unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily harm", not merely being scared shitless which is what Yanez appeared to be. Castile's death was a tragic incident of negligent homicide caused by a decent man, but an incompetent officer who was unreasonably afraid. The pleading in Yanez's voice was not one of malice, but one of bare fear. He was not in control of his fear or his trigger finger, but that was incompetence not malice.

To call this an "execution" you have to attach malicious intent and I don't see malicious intent. I see, again, bare and unreasonable fear of a man who was not in control of the situation and a man was tragically killed. I can't make the connection that Yanez got out of bed, put on his uniform, and thought "I'm gonna smoke me a black guy today", or more to the point when he pulled over Castile "I'm gonna smoke THIS black guy today" and coldly and cooly kills him.

When I watched the video, the most telling part of it was the second officer on the passenger side. When Yanez told Castile not to reach for his gun, the second officer who was at a presumptive position of visual advantage (and would/should have seen a gun as it was supposed/alleged to be on Castile's right side) looked at Yanez like "WTF? I don't see a gun!" and he didn't react by drawing his gun to cover/defend a brother officer from a lethal threat. The second officer bunny hopped out of the line of fire with a shocked look on his face, and I believe this is because the threat HE perceived was from the rounds issuing from Yanez's weapon, not from a threat from Castile.

If you look at the time elapsing, I don't believe there was enough time for the second officer to reset his OODA loop from "WTF?" to "DON'T SHOOT!" and he was just trying to de-ass the line of fire to keep himself from catching incoming rounds.

I want to see an entire transcript of the second officer's testimony and not the parsed and edited bits in the paper, so if anyone finds it, please link it here. If the second officer testified that HE saw a gun, or saw Castile reaching for one...then I want to know why HE didn't take defensive action and also give orders for Castile to stop??????

I have seen the dash cam footage and the GF video and as one of the biggest defenders of LEOs for many reasons, I think that if this were you or I in Castile shoes, that our families would be calling it as such.

What I learned just reinforced what I already knew. Comply, keep your hands up always, keep your paperwork close by in case you are stopped, and don't volunteer your CC status unless you are mandated to do so. As I said, this training deficient cop seemed to be out of alternatives other than gunning down a motorist so quickly that my LEO relatives just looked at it and shook their heads.

Don't be offended Frisco. I am a LEO backer but this one had me shaking my head about bad outcomes with LEOs if even the slightest mistake is made. I know it's a thin margin but should never be that thin based on the video I saw.

The Place To Be

 

[bofh]

Comply or die, it's pretty simple. Some people left their home countries and immigrated to the US to escape exactly such blatant violation of civil rights. "Officer safety" uber alles, I guess.

 

[Frisco85132]

I have seen the dash cam footage and the GF video and as one of the biggest defenders of LEOs for many reasons, I think that if this were you or I in Castile shoes, that our families would be calling it as such.

What I learned just reinforced what I already knew. Comply, keep your hands up always, keep your paperwork close by in case you are stopped, and don't volunteer your CC status unless you are mandated to do so. As I said, this training deficient cop seemed to be out of alternatives other than gunning down a motorist so quickly that my LEO relatives just looked at it and shook their heads.

Don't be offended Frisco. I am a LEO backer but this one had me shaking my head about bad outcomes with LEOs if even the slightest mistake is made. I know it's a thin margin but should never be that thin based on the video I saw.

The Place To Be

I'm not offended at all. I am only in disagreement on the "execution" definition of the incident. An execution is a planned and coldly committed murder. That's not what we have here. We have gross incompetence, bare and unreasonable fear, and a (probably) otherwise decent man who should have been in control of both himself AND the contact and wasn't. I can't defend Yanez's actions, I wouldn't even try. He effed up big time, and Castile paid with his life. Tragedy and tragic loss of life due to gross incompetence don't even begin to adequately describe Castile's death, but neither does "execution" accurately describe it.

"I was getting nervous" - Yanez. Okay, fair enough. Being "nervous" is not justification for the use of lethal force.

"He was holding his hand like this (makes a C with his hand) much bigger than reaching for a wallet" - Yanez. Okay, duly noted...maybe he had a fat wallet. A C shaped hand is likewise NOT justification for lethal force.

Add the fact that Castile made a pretty damned good notification that he was armed and that he had a permit...there was no reason for Yanez to ramp up his stress level other than he was scared and out of control.

In fact, Castile made close to a textbook notification that he was carrying in a calm, reasonable, non threatening voice/manner that even a rookie would understand was a simple notification of fact "Sir, I have to tell you I have a firearm on me". There was no reason, at that time, to ramp up as fast as Yanez did. I know. I have been in that spot more times than I could possibly count. I have seen week-one rookies, fresh out of the academy handle themselves better in a traffic stop with a verified gun present than Yanez did.

I didn't see ANY exigencies in the contact that would justify the action Yanez took, or his loss of control, or bare fear. I also didn't see an execution.

 

[BluesStringer]

Executed or unreasonably and incompetently killed, Castile is dead and Yanez can go on about his life without any legal consequences whatsoever. He could even be employed as an LEO again if there's any sheriffs or CoPs out there incompetent enough to hire him, which I'm positive there are if he looks around hard enough. 'Course, Yanez may take himself out of the LEO game now that he's had the ever-lovin' crap scared out of him for no justifiable reason. It wouldn't surprise me a bit to see him seek and land LEO employment again though, because many people who are given unlimited and unaccountable power over others can never go back to being just run-of-the-mill citizens. Both being accountable and/or sharing with his fellow citizens run-of-the-mill status is already proven beyond question that Yanez cannot and will not impose upon himself.

Irrespective of others' willingness to engage in semantic arguments over Yanez's intentions at the time of the shooting, this lone fact remains as unrefuted and irrefutable; This is the face of a killer:

Link Removed

All who encounter him in the future should beware of that fact, whether he's costumed-up or not.

Blues