Philando Castile Shooting Livestream Video [GRAPHIC CONTENT]
For the news media, one way to frame these stories as something new is to focus on the technology, which now makes it possible for eyewitnesses to record and disseminate the killings, and for those outraged by the images instantly appearing on their screens to register their discontent without even looking up from their phones.
Thats why the first reports on the killing of Philando Castile, a 32-year-old cafeteria supervisor at a Montessori School in St. Paul, Minnesota, who was shot while reaching for his license during a traffic stop on Wednesday night, included a comment from a Facebook spokesman. The aftermath of the shooting, as Castile bled to death in the front seat of a car, was streamed live on the social network from the phone of Castiles distraught girlfriend.
The video stream starts just after the shooting, with images of Castile still strapped into his seat, his white t-shirt covered in blood, as his girlfriend says to him, Stay with me. (The video is reversed, like a reflection in a mirror, so that the injured driver appears to be on the right rather than the left of the car, apparently because the woman was using the phones forward-facing camera.)
We got pulled over for a busted tail light in the back, she explains. She adds that he is licensed to carry a gun, but was simply trying to get his I.D. and his wallet out of his pocket and he let the officer know that he was, that he had a firearm and he was reaching for his wallet and the officer just shot him in his arm. Were waiting for a back-up.
The officer outside the car then shouts at the woman to keep her hands where he can see them. As she says, I will, sir, no worries, I will, the camera pans across to reveal the officer standing outside the car, training his gun on the couple. He then appears to scream f**k!
A screenshot from the Facebook video stream of Philando Castiles killing.
Lavish Reynolds via Facebook
The woman then resumes explaining what happened, saying, he just shot his arm off; we got pulled over on Larpenteur, a street in the Falcon Heights neighborhood of St. Paul. The officer, who sounds like he might be crying, then interrupts with his self-justification, screaming, I told him not to reach for it, I told him to get his hand off it! The woman replies: You told him to get his I.D. sir, you told him to get his drivers license.
Oh my G*d, please dont tell me hes dead, she then says. Please dont tell me my boyfriend just went like that.
Moments later, as the police back-up arrives and the woman is told to leave the car, she can be heard asking about the four-year-old girl who watched the whole scene unfold from the back seat. Wheres my daughter? You got my daughter?
As the woman was arrested, the phone was forced from her hand but kept recording, and she could be heard telling anyone who might have been watching the live stream, They threw my phone, Facebook. The stream continues for nearly eight more minutes, recording her interaction with the officers and the face of her daughter once they were reunited in the back seat of a police car.
Near the end of the clip, as the woman breaks down, screaming and crying, a transcript of the video shows that her young daughter tries to comfort her.
Thats the police officer over there that did it with the black on, she says. I cant really do s**t because they have me handcuffed.
Its okay, mommy, her daughter says.
I cant believe they just did this, she adds, before screaming and breaking down in sobs.
Its okay, Im right here with you, the little girl says.
Castile was taken to a hospital in Minneapolis, where he died a short time later. His family told WCCO, a CBS affiliate, that the video was streamed to Facebook by his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, who added just one word of commentary: Police.
Valerie Castile, the dead mans mother, said she had no doubt he toldthe police officer he had a firearm and was legally permitted to carry it. Im sure he did, because thats something we always discussed: comply. Thats the key thing, the key thing in order to try to survive being stopped by the police is to try to comply. Whatever they ask you to do, do it. Dont say nothing, just do whatever they want you to do.
So whats the difference in complying, she asked, and you get killed anyway?
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNHGG4WOY4wRjaxay_qRS2JhWeG93w&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779151664276&ei=oOx-V-DiKMzS3gH3rJ2YDg&url=https://theintercept.com/2016/07/07/two-black-victims-police-violence-become-hashtags-philandocastile-altonsterling/
