Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 21 June 2017
Dashcam video shows officer firing 7 shots into car

By AMY FORLITI Castile, a 32-year-old el-
STEVE KARNOWSKI ementary school cafete-
Associated Press ria worker, had a permit to
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The carry the weapon.
Minnesota police officer The release of the video
who pulled over Philando made some people even
Castile politely told the driv- angrier about the death.
er that his brake lights were Steven Belton, the black
out and calmly instructed president and CEO of
him not to pull out his hand- the Minneapolis Urban
gun before suddenly draw- League, said the foot-
ing his own weapon and age was “powerfully pain-
firing seven rounds into the ful” and that Castile was
car, a video released Tues- “gunned down like a rabid
day showed. animal.”
The dashboard video tak- Bekuh Sibet, a 29-year-old
en from St. Anthony police waitress from nearby Rich-
Officer Jeronimo Yanez’s In this image made from July 6, 2016, video captured by a field, said it was obvious
squad car illustrated how camera in the squad car of St. Anthony Police officer Jeronimo to her from the video that
a simple traffic stop of a Yanez, the Minnesota police officer shoots at Philando Castile Castile was complying.
black man shifted in an in the vehicle during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minn. The “I feel like it’s 10 times
instant from a routine ex- video was made public by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal worse now,” said Sibet,
Apprehension and the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, Tues-
change to a deadly con- day, June 20, 2017, just days after the officer was acquitted on who is white.
frontation. all counts in the case. Craig Hutchinson, a white
When Yanez opened fire, (St. Anthony Police department via AP) employment recruiter from
another officer near the car began yelling at the driv- ambulance arrived, Yanez the Minneapolis suburb of
jumped back, and Yanez er. As more police and an could be heard breathing Plymouth, said in a tweet
heavily and swearing and to The Associated Press
trying to explain his actions that he was surprised at
to fellow officers. how quickly the situation
The video was made pub- intensified.
lic just days after the La- Hutchinson, who said he
tino officer was acquitted has a concealed-carry
on all counts in the case. permit, also said the video
Although the squad-car left room for reasonable
footage was described re- doubt, because it does not
peatedly and was shown show where the gun was.
to jurors in the courtroom, He also said Yanez could
it had never been made have acted differently.
public until Tuesday. “If the officer would’ve
The shooting on July 6, exercised more caution, it
2016, in the Twin Cities may not have escalated
suburb of Falcon Heights as fast,” he said.
gained widespread atten- Marcell Lenoir, a 24-year-
tion because Castile’s girl- old insurance worker from
friend, Diamond Reynolds, suburban Brooklyn Center,
livestreamed its gruesome referred back to testimony
aftermath on Facebook. that the officer thought
Unlike Reynolds’ video, the Castile resembled a sus-
squad-car video shows the pected armed robber.
situation’s quick escalation “He already thought in his
and the shooting itself. mind that this was a sus-
Yanez, who was found not pect in a robbery, and
guilty of manslaughter and he just panicked and he
other charges, began firing messed up,” said Lenoir,
only seconds after Castile who is mixed race, African-
told the officer he had a American and white.
gun. The footage shows a wide
“Sir, I have to tell you, I do view of the traffic stop
have a firearm on me,” and the shooting, with the
Castile said. camera pointed toward
Before Castile finished Castile’s vehicle. It cap-
that sentence, Yanez be- tures what was said be-
gan pulling his weapon tween the two men. The
out of the holster. Yanez video does not show what
said, “OK. Don’t reach for happened inside the car
it then.” He told the driver or what Yanez saw.
twice more not to pull out Yanez testified that Castile
the weapon and then ignored his commands not
started firing into the car. to pull out the gun.
After the firing ends, he The video shows Yanez fol-
screamed, “Don’t pull it lowing Castile’s car, then
out!” pulling it over. q