Who was Philando Castile?

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Philando Divall Castile (July 16, 1983 – July 6, 2016) was 32 years old at the time of his death. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Saint Paul Central High School in 2001 and worked for the Saint Paul Public School District from 2002 until his death. Castile began as a nutrition services assistant at Chelsea Heights Elementary School and Arlington High School, now Washington Technology Magnet School. He was promoted to nutrition services supervisor at J. J. Hill Montessori Magnet School, in August 2014. Prior to the shooting, Castile had been stopped by the police at least 49 times in 13 years for minor traffic and equipment violations, the majority of which were dismissed. 

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What happened to him?

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Castile was driving with his partner Diamond Reynolds and her four-year-old daughter when on July 6, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. their vehicle was pulled over by Yanez and another officer in Falcon Heights, a suburb of Saint Paul, Minnesota. After being asked for his license and registration, Castile told Officer Yanez that he had a firearm, Castile was licensed to carry, to which Yanez replied, "Don't reach for it then", and Castile said "I'm, I, I was reaching for..." Yanez said "Don't pull it out", Castile replied "I'm not pulling it out", and Reynolds said "He's not..." Yanez repeated "Don't pull it out" and then shot at Castile at close range seven times, hitting him five times. Castile died at 9:37 p.m. at Hennepin County Medical Center, about 20 minutes after being shot.

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Reynolds posted a live stream video on Facebook in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, which prompted the incident to achieve national notoriety. There were local and national protests, and five months after the incident, Yanez was charged with second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm. After five days of deliberation, he was acquitted of all charges on June 16, 2017 in a jury trial and was immediately fired by the City of Saint Anthony. Wrongful death lawsuits against the City brought by Reynolds and Castile's family were settled for $3.8 million. 

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The shooting

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Castile was pulled over as part of a traffic stop by Yanez and Kauser in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, a suburb of Saint Paul. Castile and Reynolds were returning from shopping at a grocery store; earlier that evening, Castile had gone for a haircut, eaten dinner with his sister, and picked up his girlfriend from his apartment in St. Paul. 

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A St. Anthony police officer patrolling Larpenteur Avenue radioed to a nearby squad that he planned to pull over the car and check the IDs of the driver and passenger, saying, "The two occupants just look like people that were involved in a robbery. The driver looks more like one of our suspects, just because of the wide-set nose. I couldn't get a good look at the passenger."At 9:04 p.m. CDT, the officer told a nearby officer that he would wait for him to make the stop.  

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The stop took place on Larpenteur Avenue at Fry Street, just outside the Minnesota state fairgrounds, at about 9:05 p.m. Riding in a white 1997 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight LS with Castile were his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her four-year-old daughter. Castile was the driver, Reynolds was the front-seat passenger, and the child was in the back seat. "According to investigators, Yanez approached the car from the driver's side, while Kauser approached it from the passenger side." 

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The police dashcam video shows that 40 seconds elapsed between when Yanez first started talking to Castile through the car window and when Yanez began shooting at him. According to the dashcam, after Yanez asked for Castile's driver's license and proof of insurance, Castile gave him his proof of insurance card, which Yanez appeared to glance at and tuck in his outer pocket. Castile then calmly informed Yanez: "Sir, I have to tell you that I do have a firearm on me." Quoting the Star Tribune description of the next 13 seconds of the video:  

 

"Before Castile completed the sentence, Yanez interrupted and calmly replied, 'OK,' and placed his right hand on the holster of his own holstered weapon. Yanez said, 'Okay, don't reach for it, then ... don't pull it out.' Castile responded, 'I'm not pulling it out,' and Reynolds also said, 'He's not pulling it out.' Yanez repeated, raising his voice, 'Don't pull it out!' as he quickly pulled his own gun with his right hand and reached inside the driver's window with his left hand. Reynolds screamed, "No!" Yanez removed his left arm from the car and fired seven shots in the direction of Castile in rapid succession. Reynolds yelled, 'You just killed my boyfriend!' Castile moaned and said, 'I wasn't reaching for it.' Reynolds loudly said, 'He wasn't reaching for it.' Before she completed her sentence, Yanez again screamed, "Don't pull it out!" Reynolds responded, 'He wasn't.' Yanez yelled, 'Don't move! Fuck!'"

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Of the seven shots fired by Yanez at point blank range, five hit Castile and two of those hit and pierced his heart.  Events immediately after the shooting were streamed live in a 10-minute video by Reynolds via Facebook. The recording appears to begin seconds after Castile was shot, just after 9:00 p.m. CDT.  The video depicts Castile slumped over, moaning and moving slightly, with a bloodied left arm and side. In the video, Reynolds is speaking with Yanez and explaining what happened. Reynolds stated on the video that Yanez "asked him for license and registration. He told him that it was in his wallet, but he had a pistol on him because he's licensed to carry." Castile did have a license to carry a gun. Reynolds further narrated that the officer said, "Don't move" and as Castile was putting his hands back up, the officer shot him in the arm four or five times. Reynolds told the officer, "You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir." Reynolds also said, "Please don't tell me he's dead", while Yanez exclaimed: "I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his hand open!" 

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At one point in the video footage, an officer orders Reynolds to get on her knees and the sound of Reynolds being handcuffed can be heard. Reynolds' phone falls onto the ground but continues recording, and an officer periodically yells, "Fuck!" Video from the squad car of Joseph Kauser (where Reynolds and her daughter were put after Reynolds was handcuffed), shows Reynolds' daughter telling her, "Mom, please stop cussing and screaming 'cause I don't want you to get shooted". Reynolds was taken into custody, questioned at a police station, and released the following morning around 5:00 a.m. 

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The day following the shooting, Reynolds said that police had "treated me like a criminal ... like it was my fault." She also said that officers had failed to check Castile for a pulse or to see if he was breathing for several minutes after the shooting, and instead comforted the officer who had fired the shots. By that afternoon, her video had been viewed nearly 2.5 million times on Facebook.  

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What happened with his case?

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The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office ruled Castile's death a homicide and said that he had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. The office reported that Castile died at 9:37 p.m. CDT in the emergency department of the Hennepin County Medical Center, about 20 minutes after being shot. On July 14, a funeral service for Castile took place at the Cathedral of Saint Paul, attended by thousands of mourners. 

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The day after the fatal shooting, the St. Anthony Police Department identified the officer who fired the fatal shots as Yanez. He and his partner Kauser were placed on paid administrative leave. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was the lead agency in charge of the investigation. Two days following the shooting, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi called for a "prompt and thorough" investigation into the shooting. He said that he had not determined whether he would use a grand jury, but stated that if either a grand jury or prosecutors in his office determined that charges were appropriate, he would "prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law." The BCA said that squad-car video and "several" other videos had been collected as evidence. St. Anthony police do not wear body cameras. On September 28, 2016, the BCA announced that it had completed its investigation and turned over its findings to Ramsey County Attorney John Choi. Prosecutors in the Ramsey County Attorney's Office would decide whether to file charges in the shooting or bring the case to a grand jury. 

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Choi reviewed the evidence with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney's office, a retired deputy chief of police in Irvine, California, and a former federal prosecutor. Seven weeks after receiving the BCA report, Choi announced that Yanez was being charged with second degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm.

  

The trial of Yanez began May 30, 2017, under Judge William H. Leary III. Yanez would have faced up to 10 years under Minnesota law if he had been convicted. After five days and more than 25 hours of deliberation, the 12-member jury decided that the state had not met its burden for a conviction. The vote was initially 10–2 in favor of acquitting Yanez; after further deliberation the two remaining jurors were also swayed to acquit. The jury consisted of seven men and five women. Two jurors were black. 

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What can we do? 

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1. Sign this petition demanding for justice for Philando Castile

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2. Contact John j. Choi demanding Philando’s case be re-opened.

651-266-3222