Philando Castile, 31

Falcon Heights, Minnesota
July 06, 2016

Agencies: Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension BCA | St. Anthony Police Department Minnesota | Ramsey County Attorney's Office Minnesota

Cause of death: Shooting

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Last updated: almost 6 years ago

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Overview

31-year-old Philando Castile was shot and killed by police during a traffic stop Wednesday night, July 6, 2016 in Falcon Heights.

Authorities say St. Anthony Police were conducting a traffic stop when an officer fired at least one shot at Philando Castile in the car. He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for treatment, where he later died, family members confirmed.

Castile was a St. Paul schools employee.

Clarence Castile, Philando’s uncle, said his nephew had worked in the J.J. Hill school cafeteria for 12 to 15 years, “cooking for the little kids,” according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Castile's uncle told KARE he was an "upstanding man."

A nine-minute Facebook Live video embedded below, recorded by a woman who said she's Castile's girlfriend, apparently shows the aftermath of the shooting. In the video, the woman says police shot her boyfriend after he reached for his ID, which was in his wallet. She says her boyfriend, who was allegedly stopped for a broken taillight, told police the ID was in his wallet and that he was carrying a firearm, which he was licensed to do.

"Police shot him for no apparent reason," she said in the video, "no reason at all.”

Toward the end of the video, the woman and her daughter are sitting in the back of the patrol car. The woman screams. Her daughter says, "It's OK. I'm here with you."

At one point, the girlfriend is ordered to leave the vehicle with her hands up. She obeys police orders and is told to walk backwards toward police, as they are seen with guns drawn. She's ordered to her knees and is eventually handcuffed and taken into custody. In the video, she asks why she's being arrested and an officer responds that she's just being detained "until we can sort this all out."

Media reports seem to show that Castile had been targeted by police for multiple minor infractions. 
In the previous 14 years, he had been pulled over at least 31 times and hit with 63 traffic charges and thousands of dollars in fines. According to this BusinessInsider article, he'd been stoped 52 times and hit with 86 traffic charges, costing a total of $6,588.

According to the report, Castile's most recent conviction came earlier this year in January after he was accused twice of leaving his vehicle abandoned on 'public/private property without consent'. It was alleged he had left the vehicle for more than 48 hours. He was convicted of two 'petty misdemeanors' on January 11 and one on January 8. Days earlier on January 5 he was slapped with another parking charge and convicted for breaching 'snow emergency parking restrictions'.

Castile had no criminal record whatsoever beyond the traffic offenses.  

Legal Action

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said on July 7, 2016, that he had asked the White House to compel the U.S. Department of Justice to begin an independent federal investigation into the death of Castile, who would have turned 33 on Friday.

He added that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension had already begun "collecting all necessary evidence, and interviewing witnesses, to determine what happened, and to assure that justice in this case is served."

The Justice Department said Thursday that it was aware of the incident and was "assessing the situation."

July 2016 Lawyer for Officer not concerned about charges

July 2016 Judge Glenda Hatchett announces she will be the Legal Representative for the Philando Castile family.

September 2016 ACLU to sue for release of squad car video

September 2016 The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has completed its investigation into the officer-involved death of Philando Castile. 

It is now up to the Ramsey County Attorney's Office to decide whether charges should be filed in the case.

In November 2016, the Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop was charged with second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm.

December 2016 Lawyers representing St. Anthony, Minn., Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez in the shooting death of Philando Castile filed a notice to remove a black judge—Ramsey County, Minn.’s second-most-senior judge—from the case

February 2017 Yanez to face trial

May 2017 Officer's attorneys want Castile gun permit evidence omitted

June 2017 Jurors to hear tape

June 2017 Cop in Philando Castile Shooting Death Goes With Same Old Defense: ‘I Thought I Was Going To Die’

June 2017 Yanez walks. "No Guilty on all counts" 

June 2017 Why police officers aren't held accountable when they kill someone

June 2017 DashCam released of murder of Philando

June 2017 The Daily show video

June 2017 Important documents released

June 2017 Arrest of Diamond Reynolds fiance of Philando Castile

June 2017 The dashcam view confirming Diamond Reynolds' description of events

June 2017 City agrees to $3,000,000 payout

 

Community and Family Efforts

July 2016 Family raising funds for wife and child's  expenses

Twitter #FalconHeightsShooting

Twitter #PhilandoCastile

July 2016 StarTribune publishes a database-of-deaths-after-police-use-of-force-in-minnesota-since-2000

Protestors are at the Governor's Mansion following Philando Castile's death

Facebook claims technical glitch for video being removed about an hour after it was live streamed

July 2016 President Obama says the latest killings are not isolated incidents

July 2016 ACLU says to KnowYourRights if going to protest

July 2016 Governor of Minnesota Press conference

July 2016 NRA statement

July 2016 Atlanta Protests

July 2016 Livestream St Paul Mn

July 2016 Dispatch Audio with text :

“I’m going to stop a car,” the officer says on the recording. “I’m going to check IDs. I have reason to pull it over.”

“The two occupants just look like people that were involved in a robbery,” the officer says. “The driver looks more like one of our suspects, just ‘cause of the wide set nose,” the officer continues.

A minute and a half later, the recording captures the first report that there was a shooting

2016 ACLU National

July 2016  41 protestors arrested as I-35W shutdown

July 2016 Funeral video

July 2016 Horse drawn carriage for Philando

August 2016 Arrests and protests continue in St Paul Minnesota

December 2016 Police Murder and Legal farce

August 2016 Hiphop activists respond

August 2016 Celebrities have a responsibility to condemn Police brutality

September 2016 Video of Protest MN State Fair by UnicornRiot

September 2016 Outrageous intimidation at peaceful protest in St Paul MN

September 2016 Co-worker of Philando says 'StopKillingUs'

September 2016 Supporters in court

November 2016 Unicorn Riot with family and friends reaction to Yanez being indicted for manslaughter. A rare event in Minneapolis and St Paul.

January 2017 Protest about Bill to make protestors pay for police costs at demonstrations

June 2017 Verdict due shortly in Yanez manslaughter case

June 2017 Not guilty verdict. Yanez walks.

June 2017 Protests post verdict facebook Live

June 2017 Remembering where they come from

June 2017 Protests continue

June 2017 Some gun owners are disturbed by the Philando Castile verdict. The NRA is silent. The NRA put out a statement last year saying they would have plenty to say when the investigation is concluded.

July 2017 Yanez pay out

July 2017 NRA issues piss weak statement on the murder of Philando

October 2016 A Philando Castile Memorial Fund has wiped out all student lunch debt in St Paul