Back to back nights of police brutality. The night after the shooting of Alton Sterling, another Black man was shot by police, this time in Falcon Heights (MN). The man was reaching for his wallet during a traffic stop after advising the officer he had a gun. However, the officer shot him anyway. The whole thing was caught on camera and is now all over Facebook Live. It is now trending on Twitter as well. A woman and child were in the car at the time of the shooting. The video is very graphic; I will not post it here. Viewer discretion advised.
xThe officer who shot the guy is really aggressive & still pointing his gun at this guy, even though he's slumped over #FalconHeightsShooting
— Johnetta Elzie (@Nettaaaaaaaa) July 7, 2016 xHillary Clinton calls for end to racial profiling, better police training on de-escalation, etc. #altonsterlingpic.twitter.com/5AMRrcKLT1
— Maya Lau (@mayalau) July 7, 2016Don’t count on CNN and MSNBC to cover it. They are busy giving Donald Trump free publicity.
The website Heavy, however, has picked up the story.
In the video, the woman, Lavish Reynolds, says to the unidentified man, “Stay with me… We got pulled over for a busted taillight in the back.”
She says that the man who was shot is “licensed to carry” and was “trying to get out his ID” and “he let the officer know he had a firearm, and he was reaching for his wallet, and the officer just shot him …He just shot his arm off.”
Reynolds recorded the video on Facebook Live while the situation was still ongoing, and the police officer could be seen with his firearm pointing at the couple through the window of their vehicle.
“I told him to get his hand out; I told him not to reach for it,” says Reynolds, adding, “Oh my God, don’t tell me he’s dead, please don’t tell me my boyfriend just went like that.”
The man is heard moaning in the video, and his T-shirt is covered with blood.
“Please, officer, don’t tell me he’s gone; you shot four bullets into him, sir,” Reynolds implores, during the live, active situation.
xshoot someone + dont even try to administer first aid see them take their last breath & you still have the gun aimed #FalconHeightsShooting
— Janet ✨ (@befourxfenty) July 7, 2016The 10-minute video shows Reynolds being ordered from her car by several police officers and later placed in the back of squad car in handcuffs.
“Please don’t tell me my boyfriend’s gone,” she says. ”He don’t deserve this, please. He works for St. Paul Public Schools. He’s never been in jail, anything. He’s not a gang member, anything.”
"I do not have a lot of information at this time. I don't know the reason for the traffic stop or what the circumstances were," said interim St. Anthony Police Chief Jon Mangseth.
The person who was shot in the incident was taken to the hospital.
"I do not know the status of the victim at this time," said Mangseth.
The man has died; he has been identified as Philando Castile.
WCCO confirms that a 32-year-old man has died after an officer-involved shooting Wednesday night in Falcon Heights.
Philando Castile’s mother says he died at Hennepin County Medical Center.
x#falconheightsshooting the cop knew he was wrong, you could hear him yellin "fuck" multiple times
— Queen K. (@iamKatrinaaa) July 7, 2016 xVideo from @StribJany shows crowds gathering at the site of the #FalconHeights shooting - follow him for more pic.twitter.com/y4jqby0gsP
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) July 7, 2016 xCrowd's swelled to 100+. Angry shouts rippling through the crowd, but it's been mostly peaceful. pic.twitter.com/fooyZ1HKY4
— Libor Jany (@StribJany) July 7, 2016God help us all.