#Philando Castile's Killer Got $48k And Walks Free While Protestor Is Charged With Felony #BLM

Do black lives matter in this country? You remember Philando Castile, one of the many victims of execution by police last year. Philando was shot in front of his girlfriend and her 4 year old daughter by Officer Jeronimo Yanez in St. Paul, Minnesota, then left to bleed out while they cuffed his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, the driver of the car.

Officer Yanez was awarded $48,000 in severance pay after being acquitted of all charges.



So who will go to jail following this egregious miscarriage of justice? Castile's cousin, Louis Hunter, might.

Hunter was one of thousands who protested the killing. Here, in his own words, is what happened next:

My name is Louis Hunter, and I could be the only person to serve jail time as a result of my cousin Philando Castile’s murder--while former officer, Jeronimo Yanez, walks free with a $48K severance check in his pocket.¹ 

I am a loving father of four, a landscaper, and an active member of United Church of God in Christ. Last year, I attended the I-94 protest to stand against police violence and demand justice for Philando. And, like many that night, I chose to leave of my own accord rather than risk arrest. I never threw anything at the riot police; I would never do that. That’s not me. But to my surprise, the next day, cops surrounded my truck and arrested me on felony riot charges, making claims about things that I never did. They impounded my truck, leaving me unable to work as a landscaper. And my family and I were evicted from our home, five days after the arrest.² 

Prosecutors let my cousin’s murderer go free, but are pursuing these harsh and cruel charges against me without any evidence. All I did was attend a protest. Clearly, these charges are an attempt to silence and punish dissent in response to a profound injustice. My case goes to trial on September 25th, and we don’t have much time to get the charges dropped. I’m asking you, please, will you stand in solidarity with me? 

Tell the Ramsey and Carver County Attorney offices: Drop the charges against Louis Hunter. A 10-year prison sentence for protest is not justice for Philando. 

The cops’ story has changed about three times since they arrested me. First, they said I threw a molotov cocktail. But when the evidence didn’t support their lie, they switched their claim and said I wielded a board against police officers. When they weren’t able to find evidence for that, they resorted to just alleging “riotous behavior.” 

The media isn’t even mentioning the hardship my family faces merely because I attended a protest. Philando is gone, without justice. And I could be gone too--on a 10-year bid--for being in the right place at the wrong time, just like my cousin. 

The prosecutor recently offered me a deal: plead guilty to gross misdemeanor riot, to be sentenced as a misdemeanor, including jail time. They thought it was a “generous offer,” but I refuse to plead guilty to something I didn’t do. They made that offer because their case is weak. I can’t agree to a charge that will set back everything I’ve worked for in my life: my business, a good place to live, providing for my family. 

That’s why we need to pressure the prosecutor to drop these charges before it’s too late. 

I didn’t do anything but stand up for justice. I don’t deserve to go to prison, while Philando’s murderer walks free. 

Sign the petition. 

Thank you for your support and solidarity,
-- Louis Hunter, and the Color Of Change team. 

References:
 1. "Cop who killed Philando Castile to be paid $48,500 in buyout," USAToday, 07-10-2017
https://act.colorofchange.org/go/8223?t=9&akid=7721%2E1479554%2E66H22s 

2. "Support Louis Hunter," supportlouishunter.org, 07-27-2017
https://act.colorofchange.org/go/8224?t=11&akid=7721%2E1479554%2E66H22s 

Castile and Reynolds were pulled over because police thought they "looked like" the suspects in a recent robbery. I am guessing that Hunter "looked like" suspects that threw things at police as thousands poured into the streets to protest following Officer Yanez's aquittal.

Similar to how 12 year old Tamir Rice "looked like" a dangerous man in a park with a (toy) gun. That injustice can never be undone -- despite the city of Cleveland's $6,000,000 payment to Rice's family.

If police aren't able to identify people any better than that they should all be fired.

When black lives do matter as much as white lives in this country, maybe they will be.

This man's sign refers to the fact that Castile was a popular school nutrition worker before his tragic death.

If police can't manage their fear any better than Officer Yanez -- and a host of others claiming they were scared as justification for outright murder -- they should all be fired.

The huge injustices visited on black children and their families every single day in my lifetime are a reasonable basis for fear. But the cure is not gunning people down in the streets, or harassing them with trumped up charges. 

The cure is justice. The cure is equal access to opportunities, affirmative action and reparations. The cure is accountability for white supremacy and its evils.

Every time police kill an innocent person of color, the world gets less safe -- for everyone.

Unreasonable Fear Cannot Justify The Use Of Deadly Force #PhilandoCastile

Philando Castile, RIP

Nutrition services supervisor Philando Castile's death prompted charges against the police man who shot him. County Attorney John Choi wrote, "Unreasonable fear cannot justify the use of deadly force." This will be the epithet carved on the gravestone of Western so-called civilization.

Because Philando Castile, or his girlfriend (or maybe her 4 year-old daughter? Tamir Rice was a 12 year-old when he was described by police as a man before they murdered him) looked black they were pulled over.

At least that's what the murderer's attorney said after the fact: the car was pulled over to investigate possible robbery suspects who had dreadlocks (code for dark skin) and "wide-set" noses marking them for life. Or death in this case, since the cop not only pulled the trigger seven times as Castile reached into his pocket, but also let the victim bleed out rather than rendering first aid.

You can watch the video if you can stand it.



Or you can turn away like most white people. Our privilege bubbles allow us to pretend that we don't live a viciously racist white supremacist society. Because supposedly we aren't racist. Because we refuse to learn how an entire system of racism leads to so many deaths based on the current equation:

dark skin, wide nose, dreadlocks + unreasonable fear + proliferation of deadly weapons = black lives don't matter enough to preserve and protect


Justice does not come into this equation. The policeman who shot Castile has been on paid leave at the taxpayers' expense for a year, and was just offered a severance package by the department that finally fired him after he was acquitted of all charges.

Why was Jeronimo Yanez siezed by unreasonable fear? 

His ancestors did not enslave Africans for profit. He is Mexican-American.

Well, let's ask this question: how many images of violent, armed black men had Yanez seen in his lifetime?

Photo from a rally at Castile's school following his murder

Research shows that the systemic racist conditioning of us all by the infotainment industries in Hollywood and New York means even black people are more likely to think that a young man with dark skin is holding a gun when he is actually holding a can of soda or a phone.

But would this be a deadly problem if the police weren't armed to the hilt?

Plenty of arguably more civilized nations around the globe do not give guns to garden variety police officers. Japan, England, and many more arm them instead with knowledge of how to evaluate and defuse tense situations i.e. how to do what every preschooler is admonished to do: use your words.

Castile had reportedly been pulled over 46 times for routine traffic stops. Before his girlfriend Diamond Reynolds began filming, she heard police say that the car had a tail light out.

I've been pulled over for having a tail light out. Maybe you have, too. Did you expect it to result in your death?

If you are white, the answer is likely "no" but if you have dark skin your answer may be more like the monologue in the opening scene of the film GET OUT. He's a black man being trailed by a car as he walks through an upscale white neighborhood after dark: "Not me. Not today."

A friend I saw the movie with the first time says she is having trouble getting her white acquaintances to see it. "It's a horror film, isn't it?" they say. "I don't like horror films." Neither do I, but that's the point of the film: a suspenseful horror film built on the audience's realization of how dangerous it is to be a black person in 21st century USA.

Source: Gawker "Unarmed people of color killed by police, 1999-2014"

Most in this terrified state turn away from evidence of how structural racism kills innocent people every single day. 

Most in this terrified state turn away from evidence of how their tax dollars are used to burn brown skinned children in Syria and Iraq with white phosphorus.

Most in this terrified state will close their ears and eyes to the reality of white supremacy and state-sponsored violence that victimizes people with dark skin, repeating the mantra "but I'm not racist" as if that was even a thing.

Bereaved mother Valerie Castile. Photo source: NPR

Most will not have the courage to listen to the words of Castile's mother Valerie when she received news that her son's murderer was found innocent of all charges. As reported in USA Today:

"People have died for us to have these rights and now we're devolving...The system continues to fail black people, and it will continue to fail you all. 

Like I said, because this happened with Philando, when they get done with us, they coming for you, for you, for you and all your interracial children. 

Y'all are next, and you will be standing up here fighting for justice just as well as I am."

"We Leave When We Get Justice" #PhilandoCastile #I94Shutdown #YanezTrial #YanezVerdict Watch live now: https://t.co/9yiRl37RXz pic.twitter.com/jqclfl2N4C

— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) June 17, 2017