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posted by martyb on Thursday July 07 2016, @09:17PM   Printer-friendly

A woman named Lavish Reynolds has posted a dramatic Facebook Live video showing a bleeding man, Philando Castile, next to her in a car as a police officer who just shot him points a gun at him through a car window. Philando Castile, 32, died at the hospital a short time later, WCCO confirmed through his family. "Police shot him for no apparent reason, no reason at all," she says at one point.

The police shooting occurred in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Falcon Heights, which is located 10 minutes from Minneapolis/St. Paul, is the home of the Minnesota State Fair and dubs itself a "village within the city." A child (she was 4-years-old, said the St. Paul Pioneer Press) was in the car when the police officer, who has not been identified, shot Philando Castile. The child could be heard crying in the background as the emotional-sounding officer continues to point his gun through the car window as Castile bleeds through his white T-shirt and an upset Reynolds talks live on Facebook, imploring God to save him. Facebook Live allows people to stream live video directly from their cell phone onto their Facebook page.

In the video, Lavish Reynolds says to Philando Castile, "Stay with me... We got pulled over for a busted taillight in the back." She also said in the video that police asked Castile, the driver, for his license and registration and, as he reached for it, he told officers that he had a firearm and a concealed carry permit. The officer then shot him, she said (Castile had been stopped for traffic issues before; he was booked for driving after revocation in the past. However, a check with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's criminal record database showed only an entry for failing to provide proof of insurance; the Minneapolis Star-Tribune said his record consisted of "misdemeanors and petty misdemeanors" only.)

Philando Castile, 32, worked in a school cafeteria in St. Paul, the Star-Tribune said. A parent of a child in the school posted a tribute to him on Facebook, saying "This was a GOOD MAN" who pushed extra food on children and gave a borderline autistic child constant hugs.

There are a number of links with this story - I chose the first one with a working link to the video. (Working for me, anyway. [Javascript required, but see below. -Ed.])

[This seems to be a direct link to the 10m30s, 36MB video: http://videos.videopress.com/zis1YJRV/minnesota-video_dvd.mp4
The video is also available on YouTube. -Ed.]

Update #1: This revolution will not be televised – Facebook mysteriously vanishes Philando Castile death-by-cop video

Update #2: According to a story on Ars Technica , the Governor of Minnesota is asking for an independent federal investigation:

Gov. Mark Dayton of Minnesota on Thursday asked the Department of Justice to investigate the killing of a black motorist shot by a white police officer. Philando Castile's dying moments were live-streamed on Facebook, and the incident prompted a comment from President Barack Obama.

Dayton said he wanted an "immediate independent federal investigation into this matter." The governor suggested that racism was to blame for the killing of Castile, a 32-year-old school cafeteria manager, who was shot at least four times by a police officer after being pulled over for a broken taillight in Falcon Heights.


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  • (Score: 3, Touché) by isostatic on Friday July 08 2016, @12:44AM

    by isostatic (365) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 08 2016, @12:44AM (#371549) Journal

    I see this and think "if only he was armed there wouldn't be a problem. In a situation like this the only sensible thing is to arm everyone. An armed society is a polite society"

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by butthurt on Friday July 08 2016, @02:25AM

    by butthurt (6141) on Friday July 08 2016, @02:25AM (#371597) Journal

    I can't tell whether you're serious. The victim had a gun with him, but didn't use it.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 08 2016, @02:32AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 08 2016, @02:32AM (#371600)

      Either he is so stupid that he doesn't care about facts.
      Or he's joking.
      Either way the correct response is the same.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 08 2016, @09:00AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 08 2016, @09:00AM (#371728)

      "The only thing that can stop a bad cop with a gun is a bad guy with a gun." Wayine Peerie, NRA

      • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Saturday July 09 2016, @12:51AM

        by butthurt (6141) on Saturday July 09 2016, @12:51AM (#372139) Journal

        The actual quote seems to be:

        The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Would you rather have your 911 call bring a good guy with a gun from a mile away or a minute away?

        -- Wayne LaPierre

        Here the "bad guy with a gun" was a police officer. I suppose Castile had the option of shooting the police officer in self-defence, but how would that have gone for him, ultimately? I would assume that he didn't apprehend how much danger he was in. It's deplorable that a stop over a burned-out lamp should put one's life in jeopardy.