US soul-searching after police fatally shoot two black men
Diamond Reynolds speaks to a crowd outside the Governor’s Mansion on July 7, 2016 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Reynolds live streamed video of her boyfriend Philando Castile after he was shot by a police officer on the night of July 6th, 2016. AFP
SAINT PAUL, Minnesota –The fatal shootings of two black men by US police in as many days prompted a fresh round of national soul-searching, with President Barack Obama saying the incidents were evidence of a “serious problem” in American society.
The deaths this week of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota — both caught on video — are once again fueling an emotional debate about police use of lethal force, especially against African-American suspects.
Castile’s girlfriend Diamond Reynolds livestreamed the aftermath of Wednesday night’s shooting in a Saint Paul suburb with an officer pointing his gun at her through the window, and as her four-year-old daughter sat in the back of the car.
READ: Woman livestreams BF’s dying moments after police shooting
So far, the 10-minute video — which shows Castile bleeding out and has sparked widespread outrage — has been viewed more than three million times after it was posted on Facebook.
Article continues after this advertisementObama, America’s first black president, said it was clear the shootings were not “isolated incidents.”
Article continues after this advertisement“They are symptomatic of the broader challenges within our criminal justice system, the racial disparities that appear across the system year after year, and the resulting lack of trust that exists between law enforcement and too many of the communities they serve,” Obama said in a statement on Facebook.
He urged Americans to work together to heal the divisions, while being clear that police officers should not be blamed wholesale.
“To admit we’ve got a serious problem in no way contradicts our respect and appreciation for the vast majority of police officers who put their lives on the line to protect us every single day,” he added.
‘Racism exists’
In Minnesota, a visibly upset Governor Mark Dayton said Thursday there was “every indication” that police conduct in the Castile case was “way in excess” of what the situation warranted, and that race may have played a role.
“I can’t say how shocked I am and how deeply, deeply offended that this would occur in Minnesota to somebody who got pulled over for a tail light being out of order,” Dayton told reporters, calling the situation “absolutely appalling.”
“Would this have happened if those passengers, the driver and the passengers, were white? I don’t think it would have,” he said.
“So I’m forced to confront, and I think all of us in Minnesota are forced to confront, that this kind of racism exists.”
Dayton has urged a federal civil rights probe into the shooting, akin to the one launched in Louisiana over the death of Sterling, a 37-year-old father of five.
Hundreds of protesters rallied around Castile’s distraught relatives on Thursday at the governor’s mansion in Saint Paul.
Speaking to reporters outside the mansion after a night in police custody, Reynolds repeated what she said in the gruesome footage: that Castile was shot “for no reason.”
After he was pulled over, Castile duly informed the officer that he was in possession of a licensed gun, she said — and was shot as he reached for his wallet to retrieve his identification.
Reynolds said that Castile, a 32-year-old school cafeteria worker described by relatives as a quiet, law-abiding citizen, had made no threat.
She said the officer, whom she described as an Asian male, made conflicting demands — telling Castile both to keep his hands in the air and identify himself.
“Nothing within his body language said intimidation. Nothing within his body said ‘Shoot me’,” Reynolds said, her voice trembling with grief and anger.
‘It’s OK, Mommy’
Reynolds said she livestreamed the event to forestall any attempt by police to deny what happened.
“I didn’t do it for pity. I didn’t do it for fame. I did so that the world knows that these police are not here to protect us,” she said.
“They’re here to assassinate us, they’re here to kill us because we are black.”
Reynolds said her phone had been seized as evidence and voiced fear of a police cover-up.
“They’re gonna tamper with evidence,” she told reporters. “They’re gonna do whatever they have to do to cover their butts.”
In the video methodically narrated by Reynolds, Castile can be seen in the driver’s seat, blood stains spreading through his white shirt. She starts wailing as it becomes clear he is dying.
At the end of the video, as she sits in the back of a police car, Reynolds’s daughter can be heard telling her: “It’s OK, Mommy. It’s OK, I’m right here with you.”
Castile was later taken to hospital and pronounced dead.
“They did not check for a pulse… they did not check that he was breathing,” charged the young woman, who said she was handcuffed after the shooting and separated from her child.
Guns in possession
In both the Minnesota and Louisiana cases, the victims had a gun in their possession, but there is no indication they pointed their weapon at police.
On Tuesday in Louisiana, Sterling was pinned to the ground and shot at point blank range.
Baton Rouge police said they intervened after an anonymous caller reported being threatened by a man with a gun. Sterling’s family lawyer said he was merely selling CDs outside a convenience store.
A GoFundMe campaign has so far raised more than $400,000 for Sterling’s children.
The two officers involved in the Sterling case have been placed on leave.
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