Philando Castile’s Killer Walks

To the surprise of exactly no one paying attention in 21st century America, another extrajudicial killing by a cop ends with the killer walking free:

The Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop was acquitted on all charges by a jury Friday, a decision that came nearly a year after the encounter was partially streamed online before a rapt nation in the midst of a painful reckoning over shootings by law enforcement.

Officer Jeronimo Yanez pulled Castile’s car over in Falcon Heights, a suburb near Minneapolis and St. Paul, and the officer later said he thought Castile matched the description of a suspect in a robbery. The stop quickly escalated.

Yanez fired into the car, saying later he thought Castile was going for his gun, a claim Castile’s girlfriend, sitting in the seat next to him, disputed. She began filming the aftermath of the shooting with her phone.

I’m going to outsource anything I might say entirely to NPR Code Switch/Post Bourgie’s Gene Denby:

Again: I’d bet good money there is no one conscious in America today didn’t expect this outcome at all un. Which is the most enraging fact of all within this wretched story.

Over to you. I’ve nothing left but blank depression and incoherent rage.

Update:

Via AP:

A Minnesota city says it will dismiss a police officer even though he was cleared of all charges in the fatal shooting of a black motorist.

The city of St. Anthony says it concluded the public “will be best served” if Officer Jeronimo (yeh-RON’-ih-moh) Yanez no longer works for the city. The statement says the city plans to offer Yanez a “voluntary separation” so he can find another job.

The city says Yanez will not return to active duty.

One Comment on “Philando Castile’s Killer Walks”

Caleb Gee Says:

June 16, 2017 at 9:32 pm
Reblogged this on United States Hypocrisy and commented:
Somehow I missed the part of the 2nd Amendment that reads “this amendment applies to white people only, no Black people need apply.” Apparently it’s just accepted in the eyes of the law that this is the case. When Philando Castile, his girlfriend and their child were racially profiled by the monster that is Jeronimo Yanez, Castile informed officer Yanez that he was a licensed gun owner. That wasn’t enough to stop him from being coldly shot to death in cold blood for no reason. The NRA has of course remained silent on his unjust murder because their organization exists to organize what they believe to be modern-day slave patrols.

Reply

The Inverse Square Blog