St. Anthony Police Department officer Jeronimo Yanez, 29, was found not guilty of all three charges he faced in the death of 32-year-old Philando Castile: second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of intentional discharge of a risky weapon for endangering the safety of Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her four-year-old daughter. Castile had a permit for the firearm.
Yanez was charged with manslaughter and risky discharge of his firearm.
Jurors deliberated for nearly 30 hours before reaching the verdict. A faulty brake light gave the 29-year-old officer justification to pull Castile over.
The protesters gathered at the Minnesota state Capitol in St. Paul, holding "Black Lives Matter" signs and chanting "No Justice, No Peace!" Crowds marched on I-94 in 2016 also, in the aftermath of Castile's killing.
The city of St. Anthony issued a statement Friday saying they had "concluded that the public will be best served if Officer Yanez is no longer a police officer in our city". Their murders sparked mass protests around demands to punish the officers responsible and end police violence. They were booked at Ramsey County Jail, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.
Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her 4-year-old daughter, were also in the vehicle at the time of the shooting.
"Whatever one's opinion of the outcome of this case, we must come together and take concrete action to reckon with and dismantle the systemic racial inequalities that lead to far too many of these deaths", Franken wrote on Facebook.
July 9: Attorney Thomas Kelly says Yanez was reacting to the presence of the gun when he opened fire on Castile. Prosecutors insist Yanez never saw a gun and had plenty of options short of shooting Castile. They contended that Castile was not a threat.
In reaction to the verdict, Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton offered his condolences to the Castile family, calling his death a bad tragedy in a statement that made no mention of Yanez.
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As Castile's mother, Valerie Castile, said after the verdict was announced, "The system continues to fail black people, and it will continue to fail you all".
US Senator Al Franken of Minnesota on Saturday said Castile did not deserve to die.
People protest in support of Philando Castile on the capitol steps after a jury found St. Anthony Police Department officer Jeronimo Yanez not guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the death of Castile, in St. Paul, Minn., June 16, 2017. She later expressed more outrage on a profanity-laced Facebook Live video. It is a sad state of affairs when this type of criminal conduct is condoned simply because Yanez is a policeman.
"He was trying to get out his ID and his wallet out of his pocket", Reynolds says.
Circumstances of the shooting led to weeks of protests a year ago in St. Paul and the adjoining city of Minneapolis, and fueled a national debate about the appropriate use of force by police against racial minorities. The school district said it was making counselors available for students and staff over the summer.
"I don't doubt that Officer Yanez is a decent person, but he made a terrible mistake from our perspective, and that's what this case was about", Choi said.
Meanwhile, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman described Castile as a "son of Saint Paul".
This post Philando Castile's Mother On Case Verdict: "The System Continues To Fail Black People" first appeared on Vibe.
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