Police Officer is Acquitted on Charges Related to the Death of Philando Castile
A video was taken by the girlfriend of Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota, moments after he was allegedly shot multiple times by a police officer in July 2016. That video went viral, and there has been widespread outrage over Castile’s death since that time. The case recently went to trial by jury. On Friday, June 16, 2017, the officer who allegedly fired the deadly shots was acquitted of second-degree manslaughter and endangering safety by discharging a firearm.
The jury trial involved a week of testimony, and it focused primarily on what Castile was doing just before being shot. The jury was in deliberations for five days. The courtroom was tense when the verdict was announced, revealing that the officer was cleared of all charges. Castile’s mother immediately left the courtroom and later expressed her disbelief that a person allegedly got away with murder, in the death of her son.
Research indicates that this may have been the first time in the history of Minnesota that an on-duty officer was charged with a fatal shooting. The verdict was decided on the question of whether or not the officer had a reason to be afraid that Mr. Castile was reaching for the gun that he had informed the officer he had, after the officer pulled over the vehicle he was in.
The officer who allegedly shot Castile said during the trial that he believed Mr. Castile was making a grab for his gun. The deceased’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, said he was reaching for identification to give to the officer. Although there is a video from the dashcam from the police vehicle of the events and the live-stream video taken by Reynolds, no video provides footage of the critical moments in the front seat of the car, indicating how Castile moved before shots were fired.
The death of Castile has been the rallying cry for large protests in the twin cities. Not long after the deadly shooting, a question of racism became a major focus, partly as a result of U.S. President Barack Obama and Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton both verbalizing the question of whether the shooting would have occurred if the driver or passengers had been white.
Following the verdict, an estimated 1,500 people marched in protest at the Minnesota Capital in St. Paul. They caused transit delays and backups in traffic.
–Guest Contributor
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