Minnesota authorities have released dashcam footage showing the fatal shooting of Philando Castile, just days after former police officer Jeronimo Yanez was acquitted on all charges related to Castile’s death.
The video shows Yanez following Castile’s car before pulling it over. The officer then walks over to the vehicle and tells Castile he was pulled over because his break lights were out. He then asks for a driver's license and proof of insurance, before Castile informs the officer that he has a firearm in the vehicle.
“Sir, I have to tell you, I do have a firearm on me,” Castile can be heard saying in the video.
“OK, don’t reach for it then,” Yanez responds. “Don’t pull it out.”
Castile then tells the officer he isn’t pulling it out. Seconds later, officer Yanez begins shouting, pulls his gun from the holster, and fires seven shots into the vehicle.
Castile was declared dead 20 minutes after the incident. It was later reported Castile had a permit to carry.
According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, the footage was released by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Ramsey County Attorney’s office. The video was shown to the jury that acquitted Yanez of manslaughter charges last week. Yanez claimed he feared for his life during the traffic stop and believed he had no other choice but to open fire.
Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, was also in the car with her 4-year-old daughter. Moments after Yanez shot Castile, Reynolds can be heard screaming, “You just killed my boyfriend.”
The video is graphic and incredibly hard to watch.
“I wept when I saw the dashcam video,” Nekima Levy-Pounds, a civil rights attorney who is running for Minneapolis mayor, told the Star Tribune. “He had an unreasonable fear of Philando Castile as a black man, which caused him to overreact and be hypervigilant, which resulted in the death of Philando Castile.”
