A MINNESOTA POLICE OFFICER WHO SHOT AND KILLED PHILANDO
CASTILE BACK IN 2016 HAS NOT BEEN CONVICTED OF MANSLAUGHTER.
AFTER 27 HOURS OF DELIBERATION, THE JURY FOUND HIM NOT GUILTY OF
INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER.
IF YOU DON'T REMEMBER THIS CASE, IT
HAPPENED LAST YEAR --
WELL --
HE DID END UP SHOOTING CASTILE, AND WHAT MADE THE STORY
SO OUTRAGEOUS WAS THE FACT THAT PHILANDO CASTILE WAS A LICENSED
GUN OWNER, DURING THIS ROUTINE -- IT WASN'T EVEN A ROUTINE
TRAFFIC STOP, HE WAS NEVER SUSPECTED OF A ROBBERY, HE WAS
NOT THE SUSPECT AT ALL, BUT SINCE HE FIT THE DESCRIPTION HE
WAS PULLED OVER -- HE LET THE OFFICER KNOW, I AM A LICENSED
GUN OWNER, THERE IS A GUN IN THE CAR, AND I WANT TO LET YOU KNOW
SO THERE'S NO PROBLEM.
I'M PARAPHRASING, I DON'T KNOW
EXACTLY HOW HE SAID IT. AND AT THAT POINT THE COP TOLD HIM TO
GET HIS LICENSE OUT. AND AS HE WAS REACHING FOR HIS LICENSE,
THAT'S WHEN THE COP SHOT HIM SEVEN TIMES.
THE VIDEO WE ARE
ABOUT TO SHOW YOU WAS FILMED BY HIS GIRLFRIEND, WHO WAS IN THE
CAR ALONG WITH HER FOUR-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER WHO WAS IN THE
BACKSEAT, HER NAME IS DIAMOND REYNOLDS.
SHE STARTED FILMING A
FACEBOOK LIVE VIDEO AFTER THE SHOOTING OCCURRED, AND IT GIVES
YOU A BETTER SENSE OF WHAT THE SCENE WAS LIKE, LET'S GO TO
VIDEO NUMBER ONE.
STAY WITH ME.
WE GOT PULLED OVER FOR A BUSTED TAILLIGHT IN
THE BACK, AND THE POLICE JUST -- HE'S COVERED -- THEY KILLED MY
BOYFRIEND.
HE'S LICENSED, HE'S LICENSED TO CARRY, HE WAS TRYING
TO GET OUT HIS ID AND HIS WALLET OUT HIS POCKET AND HE LET THE
OFFICER KNOW THAT HE WAS -- HE HAD A FIREARM AND HE WAS
REACHING FOR HIS WALLET, AND THE OFFICER JUST SHOT HIM IN HIS
ARM.
WE ARE WAITING FOR --
KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM.
FUCK!
I WILL, SIR.
NO WORRIES.
HE JUST SHOT HIS ARM OFF.
I TOLD HIM NOT TO REACH FOR IT!
YOU TOLD HIM TO GET HIS ID, SIR, HIS DRIVER'S LICENSE.
OH MY
GOD, PLEASE DON'T TELL ME HE'S DEAD.
PLEASE DON'T TELL ME MY BOYFRIEND JUST WENT LIKE THAT.
KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE THEY ARE.
I WILL, SIR, I'LL KEEP MY HANDS WHERE THEY ARE.
PLEASE
DON'T TELL ME THIS, PLEASE JESUS, DON'T TELL ME HE'S GONE.
PLEASE DON'T TELL ME THAT HE'S GONE.
PLEASE, OFFICER, DON'T
TELL ME YOU JUST DID THIS TO HIM.
YOU SHOT FOUR BULLETS INTO
HIM, SIR.
HE WAS JUST GETTING HIS LICENSE AND REGISTRATION,
SIR.
THE JURY DID DELIBERATE ON THIS CASE, AND AGAIN, THEY FOUND
HIM NOT GUILTY OF INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER.
TO GIVE YOU SOME
MORE DETAILS INTO HOW THE CASE PLAYED OUT, ONE OF HIS
COLLEAGUES WAS THERE WITH HIM, HE NEVER PULLED OUT A GUN, HE
NEVER SHOT ANYONE, HOWEVER HE DID TESTIFY THAT HE FELT THAT
YANEZ FOLLOWED PROTOCOL IN THIS SITUATION AND DID THE RIGHT
THING.
AND ALSO THE DEFENSE WAS THAT YANEZ FELT THREATENED, HE
FELT THERE WAS AN IMMINENT THREAT, AND AS A RESULT HE
DECIDED TO FIRE SEVEN SHOTS.
ANYWAY, YOU GUYS CHIME IN.
FIRST OF ALL, THIS IS JUST ANOTHER ONE. AND THE TRAGIC
THING ABOUT THIS, LIKE YOU SAID, WHEN YOU HAD TO REVIEW THE
STORY, IT HAPPENS SO MUCH THAT YOU HAVE TO SAY OH, WHICH BLACK
GUY GOT KILLED BY COP?
YOU HAVE A SITUATION THAT SHOWS FIRST OF
ALL, IF YOU ARE BLACK, YOU LOOK LIKE A SUSPECT.
PERIOD.
IT
DOESN'T MATTER.
TALL, SMALL, BIG -- YOU ARE BLACK, YOU ARE IN A
WHITE SUBURB, YOU LOOK LIKE A SUSPECT.
AND RIGHT AWAY YOU ARE
THE MOST THREATENING THING THE OFFICER HAS EVER SEEN.
THESE ARE
POLICE OFFICERS, THEY ARE NOT UNTRAINED PEOPLE.
IN OTHER WORDS
-- LIKE, I'M A BIG BLACK PERSON, I MAY SCARE THE AVERAGE PERSON
FOR NO REASON, JUST BECAUSE I'M BIGGER THAN THEM.
BUT A POLICE
OFFICER IS TRAINED TO SUBDUE PEOPLE, TO DEAL WITH SITUATIONS.
AND ANOTHER THING, WHEN PEOPLE TALK ALL THIS CRAP ABOUT
COMPLIANCE AND RIGHTS AND ALL THAT, IT DOESN'T APPLY TO BLACK
PEOPLE.
HE WAS LICENSED TO CARRY A GUN, HE COMPLIED, HE SAID GET
YOUR LICENSE, SO HE WENT FOR HIS LICENSE AND THE COP SHOT HIM
SEVEN TIMES, AND HE'S A THREAT TO ME.
IF YOU ARE STANDING
OUTSIDE OF A CAR AND THE PERSON IS SITTING IN THE CAR, HOW ARE
THEY A THREAT TO YOU?
YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?
PHYSICALLY WHAT CAN
THEY DO TO YOU?
BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER, THESE CASES ARE GETTING
TO THE POINT NOW, AND I DON'T MEAN THIS AS A JOKE, I MEAN THIS
AS PAIN AND OUTRAGE AND ANGER, THAT WENT A COP SHOOTS THE
PERSON, JUST GIVE THE DATE OF THE ACQUITTAL.
DON'T EVEN
BOTHER.
THIS IS WHEN HE'S GOING TO COURT AND THIS IS WHEN HE'S
GETTING ACQUITTED.
IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME STORY, THIS PERSON WAS
THREATENED, HE HAD SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH -- FILL IN THE BLANKS.
IT'S THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER, AND RIGHT NOW, TRUST ME,
AS WE ARE TALKING THERE IS SOMEONE OVER ON FOX NEWS SAYING
WHAT A THREAT THIS WAS AND HOW THIS GUY DIDN'T COMPLY AND SO
ON.
YOU HEARD THE COP STILL YELLING AFTER HE KILLED HIM.
AND STILL HOLDING HIS GUN, POINTING HIS GUN AT CASTILE AS
HE'S DYING IN THAT CAR IN FRONT OF HIS GIRLFRIEND AND
THEREFORE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER.
AND BY THE WAY, THIS COMPLETE LACK
OF CONSIDERATION FOR HUMAN LIFE, RIGHT?
IT'S NOT ONLY CASTILE IN
THE CAR, THERE'S A FOUR-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN THE BACKSEAT, AND TO
GIVE YOU DETAILS OF WHAT HAPPENED WITH THAT SITUATION,
LET'S GO TO GRAPHIC THREE --
AGAIN, IT'S THIS LACK OF CONSIDERATION FOR HUMAN LIVES.
AND TO GIVE YOU EVEN MORE CONTEXT, THINK ABOUT THE FACT
THAT CASTILE WAS JUST ONE OF 963 PEOPLE WHO POLICE OFFICERS
SHOT IN 2016.
THIS DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTS
DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES, LIKE THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY,
HOWEVER IT AFFECTS EVERYONE OF US IF WE EMBOLDEN THIS TYPE OF
BEHAVIOR.
I DON'T KNOW HOW ANYONE CAN WATCH THAT VIDEO AND
NOT HAVE EMPATHY.
I LITERALLY CAN'T LOOK AT THAT VIDEO, I HAVE
TO LOOK DOWN, BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO COME BACK IN TEARS WHILE
I'M TRYING TO DO RESPONSIBLE COMMENTARY ON THE STORY.
THERE
IS NO JUSTICE, AND IT'S NOT JUST THE STORY, IT'S TAMIR RICE,
12-YEAR-OLD PLAYING WITH A TOY GUN, GETS SHOT WITHIN TWO
SECONDS OF A POLICE OFFICER SHOWING UP.
WALTER SCOTT RUNNING
AWAY, GETS SHOT IN THE BACK, AND THERE IS NO JUSTICE IN THAT CASE
EITHER.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY, WHICH IS WHY ALL OF THESE
SOLUTIONS OF BODY CAMERAS ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME, BECAUSE
OBVIOUSLY FOOTAGE DOESN'T CONVINCE THE JURY, NOTHING
CONVINCES THE JURY.
THE GOOD THING ABOUT THIS -- THERE'S NOTHING GOOD ABOUT THIS
IN THE END -- HE GOT CHARGED.
MOST OFTEN THEY DON'T. THE
PROSECUTOR MADE A GOOD-FAITH EFFORT, THAT DOES MAKE IT STAND
OUT.
IT SAYS HERE OFFICERS ARE REALLY CHARGED AT ALL FOR FATAL
ON-DUTY SHOOTINGS.
USUALLY WE FIND WHAT HAPPENED IN FERGUSON
IS THE CASE.
THIS GUY GOT CHARGED.
SO THERE WAS SOME CASE
THAT HE WOULD GET CONVICTED.
BUT THE LAW MAKES IT PRETTY CLEAR
THAT IF A POLICE OFFICER BASICALLY SAYS THE WORDS I FELT
THREATENED, THEN IT BECOMES INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT.
AT THE END
OF THIS PIECE WE ARE USING HERE, CONVICTIONS IN FREDDIE GRAY,
THREE OFFICERS, ALL OF THEM ACQUITTED, THEY GAVE UP ON THE
OTHER THREE BECAUSE THEY KNEW THEY WOULDN'T GET IT.
MISTRIALS
WERE DECLARED LAST YEAR IN OTHER HIGH-PROFILE SHOOTINGS, SOUTH
CAROLINA, YOU MENTIONED, THE JURY WAS HUNG IN CHARLESTON --
THANKFULLY, BECAUSE THERE WERE FEDERAL CHARGES FILED IN THAT
CASE, THERE COULD CONCEIVABLY BE FEDERAL CHARGES FILED HERE I
SUPPOSE, THAT FEDERAL CHARGES WERE FILED IN THAT CASE AND HE'S
GOING TO PRISON.
MAYBE FOR A LONG TIME, WE DON'T KNOW.
FOR A VIOLATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS, THAT'S WHAT THEY CHARGED
HIM WITH.
AND YOU ARE BEING NICE, YOU ARE BEING KIND OF
POLITICALLY CORRECT ON THIS ONE.
WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT IT'S
DIFFICULT TO GET A CONVICTION -- NO, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE.
IT DOESN'T HAPPEN.
THAT IS FAIR.
IN TULSA YOU HAD AN OFFICER WHO WAS NEXT TO ANOTHER OFFICER
WHO USED A TASER, THIS MAN HAD HIS HANDS UP, HE WAS A DISTANCE
AWAY FROM HER, FAR ENOUGH AWAY THAT HE WOULD HAVE TO RUN TO
TOUCH HER, IN OTHER WORDS IT WASN'T LIKE WHERE I'M SITTING TO
YOU, WHERE I COULD REACH OVER AND GRAB -- AND SHE KILLED HIM
AND SAID I FELT THREATENED.
YOU ARE RIGHT, MAN.
IT'S NOT THAT IT'S DIFFICULT.
WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT FEDERAL
CHARGES, NOW WE HAVE A DIFFERENT ADMINISTRATION, WE HAVE JEFF
SESSIONS AS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, SO YOU CAN GUARANTEE
THERE WILL BE NO FEDERAL CHARGES OF VIOLATING HIS CIVIL RIGHTS.
WHEN I SAID THAT I WASN'T EVEN THINKING ABOUT THAT, YOU
ARE RIGHT.
IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
IT'S OPEN SEASON.
AND THIS IS WHY
WHEN YOU HAVE SOMEONE LIKE A COLIN KAEPERNICK, WHO IS A HIGH
PROFILE QUARTERBACK, PEOPLE ARE LIKE, WHAT'S HE TALKING ABOUT?
YOU SAID IT, ANA -- THERE IS ZERO EMPATHY, ZERO
UNDERSTANDING.
BECAUSE IF THESE PEOPLE WHO ARE SO, I DON'T KNOW,
I'M NOT EVEN GOING TO CALL IT PRO POLICE -- 98% OF POLICE DO A
GOOD JOB SO IT'S NOT ABOUT THAT -- BUT THE PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO
BELIEVE THAT THIS HAPPENS, THEY CAN'T COMPREHEND THAT BEING
THEIR SON OR THEIR BOYFRIEND OR THEIR FATHER, OR SOMEBODY THAT
THEY ACTUALLY KNOW.
BECAUSE THEN IT BECOMES REAL.
I DISAGREE WITH ONE THING, I THINK YOU ARE RIGHT, WE DID A
STORY YESTERDAY ON THE ELIMINATION UNDER THE SESSIONS
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF CONSENT DECREES, WHICH BEASLEY MEANS
THERE IS NO COURT OVERSIGHT FOR VIOLATIONS IN POLICE DEPARTMENT
OF CIVIL RIGHTS, MORE IMPORTANTLY, EVEN THOUGH IT'S
HARD TO IMAGINE ANYTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT, FOR VOTING
RIGHTS CASES.
FOR DISENFRANCHISEMENT.
IF THE STATE
DID IT FOR DECADES, THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WILL JUST TRUST THAT
THEY WILL STOP.
YOU ARE TOTALLY RIGHT.
WHERE I DISAGREE IS YOU
SAYING THAT THERE IS NO UNDERSTANDING AND EMPATHY.
I
THINK THERE MIGHT WELL BE, MY HUNCH IS THAT IF WE TALKED TO
THOSE 12 JURORS WHO ACQUITTED HIM, THEY WOULD SAY WE ACHED FOR
IT, I WISH WE COULD HAVE CONVICTED.
WHICH MEANS THAT IF
THIS IS EVER GOING TO CHANGE, THE LAW HAS TO CHANGE.
FIRST YOU
HAVE TO CHANGE THE TRAINING OF POLICE OFFICERS SO THEY DON'T GO
INTO THAT SITUATION PRESUMING THIS IS THE GUY.
FIRST OF ALL I
WOULD LOVE TO SEE A SIDE-BY-SIDE, IF THEY EVER
CAUGHT THAT ROBBERY SUSPECT --
JUST A QUICK POINT TO THAT.
WITH REGARD TO TRAINING, I ALSO
WANT PROPER VETTING OF POLICE OFFICIALS.
AND NOT JUST
BACKGROUND CHECKS.
IF YOU ARE A COP WHO IS EASILY AFRAID OF
PEOPLE, YOU SHOULD NOT BE A COP.
IF YOU THREATENED JUST BECAUSE
AN INDIVIDUAL SAYS HE'S BLACK OR HE SAYS HE'S LICENSED TO CARRY
AND HE WARNS YOU AHEAD OF TIME, YOU SHOULDN'T BE A COP.
IF YOU
THINK EVERYTHING IS A THREAT AND YOU ARE IN A CONSTANT STATE OF
PARANOIA YOU SHOULDN'T BE A COP.
THERE ARE GREAT COPS WHO ARE
BRAVE AND COURAGEOUS AND DESERVE TO BE COPS, BUT THERE ARE ALSO
SOME COPS WHO ARE AFRAID OF EVERYTHING, WHO ARE PARANOID,
AND CLEARLY HAVE CERTAIN BIASES.
YOU ARE RIGHT.
SOMEHOW THAT NEEDS TO GET FIXED IN THIS
COUNTRY, SMARTLY AND SOON.
IT'S NOT HAPPENING OBVIOUSLY IN THIS
CURRENT CLIMATE WE ARE IN NOW.
BUT IF THE LAW WERE DIFFERENT,
IF IT WASN'T ENOUGH TO SAY I WAS AFRAID FOR MY LIFE WHEN THERE IS
NO VIDEO -- MICHAEL SLAGER, THERE IS VIDEO OF THE ACTUAL
SHOOTING.
IF SHE HAD BEEN ROLLING ON HER FACEBOOK THING 20
SECONDS EARLIER, WE MIGHT BE IN A DIFFERENT SITUATION.
BUT IF YOU CHANGE THE LAW AND THE TRAINING WE MIGHT BE IN
A SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT SITUATION A GENERATION FROM NOW.
BUT THE VIDEO DOESN'T MATTER, BECAUSE THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS
VIDEOS --
TAMIR RICE, WALTER SCOTT --
I CAN'T BREATHE, THERE ARE SIX COPS ON TOP OF YOU, WHAT MORE
VIDEO PROOF YOU NEED?
I HAVE A FRIEND WHO IS AN OFFICER, SHE
AND I HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS, AND SHE SAID THAT THE BIG
PROBLEM IS, LIKE WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT PEOPLE BEING FEARFUL, A
LOT OF COPS ARE BULLIES.
THEY GET LICENSED TO BE A BULLY.
AND
SHE SAID POLICE NEED TO BE MORE PROFESSIONAL.
IN HER DEPARTMENT
WHERE SHE WORKS, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A COLLEGE DEGREE TO BE A
POLICE OFFICER.
AND SHE SAID ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAPPENS WHEN
YOU GO TO COLLEGE IS YOU ARE EXPOSED TO A LOT OF DIFFERENT
PEOPLE.
SPEAKING TO YOUR POINT OF DEALING WITH OTHER
COMMUNITIES, JUST THAT EXPERIENCE OPENS YOUR MIND
OTHER PEOPLE.
BUT SHE SAID IN SOME DEPARTMENTS WHERE YOU TAKE
A HIGH SCHOOL KID AND SEND THEM TO TRAINING FOR SIX WEEKS AND
GIVE THEM A GUN AND SEND THEM OUT ON THE STREET, SOMETHING BAD
IS GOING TO HAPPEN.
SO THE POLICE SHOULD BE PROFESSIONALS,
THEY SHOULD BE PROFESSIONALS, AND, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHAT IT'S
GOING TO -- BECAUSE THIS HAPPENED, THIS IS ROUTINE.
SADLY, THIS IS ROUTINE.
CENK AND I HAVE TALKED ABOUT IT FOR YEARS, WE DON'T KNOW,
WE'VE NEVER BEEN AFFECTED BY IT IN THE WAY JAYAR HAS, AND I
PRESUME THE WAY YOU HAVE -- BUT YEAH, A COLLEGE DEGREE, AND
MONEY.
MAKE IT A COLLEGE DEGREE AND THEN PAY THEM, PAY THEM
WELL.
MAKE IT A WORTHWHILE 20, 25 YEARS YOU CAN PUT IN.
BECAUSE
NOBODY HERE WILL DENY THAT IT'S A DIFFICULT AND STRESSFUL JOB,
BUT TO ANA'S POINT, YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO HANDLE THAT STRESS IN
A PROFESSIONAL WAY.
I KNOW IT WEARS YOU DOWN, WE READ ABOUT IT
AGAIN AND AGAIN, GUYS COME IN IDEALISTIC AND THREE OR FOUR
YEARS LATER, A) THE SYSTEM AND B)
THE UGLY CIRCUMSTANCES THEY
SEE DAY AFTER DAY, AND WEARS THEM DOWN.
YOU CAN MANDATE
PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING, IN ADDITION TO ME PAYING THEM
$80,000 A YEAR AND MAKING SURE THEY HAVE A COLLEGE DEGREE,
YOU GET 10 WEEKS OFF.
I DON'T KNOW, YOU GET TIME TO COOL DOWN.
MANDATORY SELF-CARE.
YOU ARE RIGHT, WE SAW IT COMING.
MAYBE YOU ARE RIGHT,
MAYBE IF THAT VIDEO HAD BEEN ROLLING 20 SECONDS EARLIER MAYBE
IT WOULDN'T HAVE MADE ANY DIFFERENCE, BUT IT'S SIGNIFICANT
WITH MICHAEL SLAGER WHERE WE SAW A GUN DISCHARGED, AND A FEDERAL
COURT HIS LAWYER KNEW, EVERYBODY KNEW, IT WOULD BE A DIFFERENT
CASE IN FEDERAL COURT, IT'S A CIVIL RIGHTS CASE AND NOT A CASE
WHERE SAYING JUST I WAS SCARED WOULD BE ENOUGH.
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