Mark Dayton: Philando Castile would not have been shot if he were white

[riversedge]

Last edited Thu Jul 7, 2016, 10:27 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: St Paul Pioneer Press



Mark Dayton: Philando Castile would not have been shot if he were white


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Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, left, and Lt. Gov. Tina Smith listen to protestors
speak outside the Governor’s Residence on Thursday, July 7, 2016. following the shooting of a man, identified by relatives as Philando Castile, 32, during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minn. on Wednesday evening. (Pioneer Press: Rachel Stassen-Berger)


By Rachel E. Stassen-Berger | [e-mail] and Tad Vezner |


PUBLISHED: July 7, 2016 at 12:01 pm | UPDATED: July 7, 2016 at 7:49 pm




Diamond Reynolds, left, is in tears as she talks to Gov. Mark Dayton, right, as people gather outside the Governor's Residence in St. Paul on Thursday, July 7, 2016. Reynolds' boyfriend, Philando Castile, was killed after being shot by the police during a traffic stop Wednesday night in Falcon Heights. (Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri)

Gov. Mark Dayton, who called for state and federal investigations into Wednesday’s fatal police shooting of Philando Castile, said Thursday that he does not believe Castile would have been shot during a traffic stop if he had been white.

“Would this have happened if those passengers, the driver and passenger, would have been white? I don’t think it would,” said the governor, who has joined with Minnesota congressional officials to ask the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the incident. “This kind of racism exists and it is incumbent upon all of us to vow to do what we can to see that it doesn’t happen and continue to happen.”

The governor’s comments came as Minnesota protests continued over Castile’s death and the nation roiled over a spate of fatal police shootings in recent days. President Barack Obama on Thursday addressed the Minnesota shooting and another police shooting of an African-American man in Louisiana that occurred earlier this week. Videos from both deaths have been shown repeatedly on national media.
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Read more: http://www.twincities.com/2016/07/07/philando-castile-falcon-heights-mn-police-shooting-mark-dayton-justice-department-investigation/

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The Latest: Crowd of Protesters Swells Outside Governor Home

By The Associated Press

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. — Jul 7, 2016, 8:49 PM ET

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The Latest on a police shooting in suburban St. Paul, Minnesota (all times local):

7:45 p.m.

Hundreds of protesters have braved the rain and gathered outside the Minnesota governor's official residence to protest the police shooting of a black man.

The crowd swelled to more than 1,000 for a time as people marched from a vigil Thursday evening for Philando Castile. The 37-year-old was fatally shot during a traffic stop Wednesday night in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights. His girlfriend posted video of the aftermath using Facebook Live.

Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton waded through the crowd as protesters chanted: "What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now." The governor did not attempt to address the noisy crowd through the protesters' underpowered public address system.

Police blocked vehicles from stately Summit Avenue in front of the mansion to accommodate the huge crowd...........................






Signs outside the Governor’s Mansion.

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(Leila Navidi/Star Tribune via AP). Minnesota plGov. Mark Dayton speaks with Diamond Reynolds the girlfriend of Philandro Castile, second from left, during a press conference at his residence regarding the death of Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minn., ...

[Judi Lynn]

4. I missed hearing about that. I'm going to check it out.

On edit:

I see you're right, in info. I saw from the end of last year.

Thanks for speaking up. Clearly it got by some of us.

[sarisataka]

5. So what should he do

[riversedge]

2. Rep. John Lewis--is speaking with a mic to large protest crowd in DC (on cnn now)

[Judi Lynn]

3. Good for this Democratic Governor. So glad he acknowledged the truth. Thank you. n/t

[brush]

6. Anybody else wonder why the coward, scared cop had his gun out for a traffic stop?

This was apparently another "driving while black" incident with a a racist cop trolling a black man to see what he could find.

But he screwed up. If his gun hadn't been drawn he would not have panicked and pumped 4 bullets into an innocent man who was just trying to obey his order to produce his license. Scared, panicky cops need to be booted from these police forces. He escalated a non-threatening situation from 0 miles per hour to 100 miles per hour in a panicky second and they end up taking an innocent life.

Seems there are racist sociopaths on police forces and the other cops and top brass know who they are yet don't do anything to get them off the force.

These two murders in the last two days are the result of that inaction. I understand in the Baton Rouge killing, the murderer cop had multiple excessive force notations before.

There has to be new policies set that after what, say two excessive force violations you're gone from the police force.

[IronLionZion]

8. I think there are less people joining up

In Maryland they have police recruiting commercials on TV and radio and billboards. It's a risky job that many don't want.

[Sand Rat Expat]

9. That right there is the problem: fear and panic.

I worked as a police dispatcher for a while in Arizona. I can tell you with absolute certainty that cops are taught that they are targets the moment they put on the uniform. They're taught to be hypervigilant and aware of what's going on around them at all times... because they're targets. They're taught that the squadhouse is "friendly territory." I've heard cops use those exact words to describe a squadhouse. Thus, all other territory is "enemy territory." And what do you find in enemy territory? Why, enemies, of course!

Cops are being taught from day one in the academy to be afraid of the people they're supposed to serve. They're not taught reasonable and prudent caution; they are taught fear.

They're going out into the communities they're supposed to protect with the same mindset as a squad of Marines going into, say, Fallujah. And of course, the end result is the same: dead bodies.

So these fearful cops are just waiting for someone to attack them, and thus when they detect even a hint of something that might be a threat, they react to eliminate said threat. That's why you have these shootings.

Then, of course, the citizens fear the cops, which makes them behave in ways that make cops even more nervous and fearful, and on and on it goes.

Until cops are trained not to be afraid of the people they're supposed to work for, this will continue. Until they're taught to be servants of the public trust rather than enforcers, this will continue.

It all starts in the classroom.

[Brickbat]

7. Props to Dayton for a sincere and statesmanlike response.

[King_Klonopin]

10. Why does a passenger in a car need to provide his I.D. ??

He is a PASSENGER. Why the need to see his I.D. for a traffic violation?

It started from there and unraveled into him being killed.

A police officer once made me do a field sobriety test -- and I was
the passenger in the car, not the driver. After the craziness was over,
I was never so incensed in my life. I was just harassed and my civil
rights were just ignored by an asshole in a uniform who was abusing
his power and giving me a hard time for his own pleasure.

In this case, a toxic cocktail of racism, fear, and abuse of power
combined to cause the death (murder) of a black man -- again.

[Lunabell]

11. Good question

WHY was the passenger of the vehicle asked for id?