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Details Emerge of Philando Castile Shooting, and Minnesota Protests Carry Into Morning
Peaceful Protests Follow Minnesota Governor’s Call for Calm
(about 13 hours later)
ST. PAUL — Protests over the fatal shooting of Philando Castile by a suburban police officer stretched well into Friday morning near the Minnesota governor’s residence, as new details about the encounter emerged and many here continued calling for a federal inquiry.
ST. PAUL — Demonstrators angered by the fatal police shooting of a black man during a suburban traffic stop kept vigil outside the governor’s mansion here Friday as officials urged calm and more details emerged about the officer who fired the shots.
Late Thursday night, the authorities said Mr. Castile, a 32-year-old cafeteria supervisor at a St. Paul school, had been killed by multiple gunshot wounds, and the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. State investigators identified the officer who shot him as Jeronimo Yanez, a four-year veteran of the St. Anthony Police Department.
Officer Jeronimo Yanez, who was placed on administrative leave after the killing on Wednesday night of the driver, Philando Castile, was a member of the St. Anthony police for four years. He had earned a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement in 2010 and was honored by his college as a top student. In the years since graduating, he had posted online about a wedding and the birth of a child and settled into a suburban neighborhood.
Much remained unknown about the events leading up to the shooting, about Officer Yanez’s background, and about whether the Justice Department would open a separate, federal investigation into the case.
“He always wanted to dig deeper — what if this happened, or that happened,” said Christian Dobratz, one of Officer Yanez’s professors at Minnesota State University, Mankato. “I knew he was very big on wanting to work with others and serving a community,” he added.
All through Thursday, hundreds of protesters had gathered outside the governor’s residence in St. Paul, many prompted to act by the Facebook Live video streamed by Mr. Castile’s girlfriend showing the graphic aftermath of the shooting. Both Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, and President Obama spoke out after the shooting, expressing concern about encounters with police officers that have left African-Americans like Mr. Castile dead.
But even as Officer Yanez’s background became clearer, the specifics of the shooting that left Mr. Castile dead remained murky.
But as night fell in St. Paul and chanting continued, word spread about the shooting of several officers in Dallas after a protest march there. Some Minnesota demonstrators stood together to watch the news footage, and roughly a dozen St. Paul police officers, including a canine unit, circled up in the parking lot of a nearby church, an apparent increase in force from earlier in the evening.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating, has said little about why Officer Yanez and a colleague pulled Mr. Castile over on a stretch of suburban road near the state fairgrounds, or what led to the shooting. Much of what is known comes from a Facebook Live video by Mr. Castile’s girlfriend showing the emotional, gruesome aftermath.
Even with a turnout that numbered in the thousands, the Minnesota protests remained peaceful but forceful on Thursday. As midnight passed and the crowd waned, the scene grew more tense at times, with face-offs between the remaining protesters and officers in riot gear.
As that footage went viral online, protests have continued almost nonstop in St. Paul and the surrounding area, with activists calling for charges against Officer Yanez and a separate, federal investigation.
“If you throw rocks, we will use riot control munitions,” police officers told protesters at one point. By about 3 a.m., the scene seemed to have calmed again, though some demonstrators remained outside the governor’s mansion.
In Falcon Heights, the suburb where Mr. Castile was shot, a group of university students and employees marched to the shooting scene to pay tribute Friday afternoon. And at the governor’s residence in a residential area of St. Paul, demonstrators continued to mingle outside the gates. The protests have been large, spirited and almost entirely peaceful, though one person was arrested and a police car was damaged early Friday near Gov. Mark Dayton’s home when demonstrations turned tense.
Hours earlier, some of Mr. Castile’s relatives, including a sister who said she considered him a father figure, addressed the protesters and spoke of their grief.
So far, Justice Department officials have said they were monitoring the state investigation, but have not announced their own inquiry. John J. Choi, the prosecutor in Ramsey County, said he had urged the state agency investigating to be prompt and thorough, but did not offer a timeline on when a charging decision might be made.
“That was my father, and they took that away from me,” said the sister, Allysza Castile. “Something has to change because they are killing our black men.”
Mr. Choi, whose office will decide whether to bring charges, said he was unsure whether he would present the evidence to a grand jury or make the charging decision himself. Mr. Choi historically has used grand juries in police shooting cases and said he saw benefits in doing so, but that he would consider whether that was the right approach for Mr. Castile’s case.
In speeches and interviews, many who knew Mr. Castile recalled him as a gentle, kind man who was passionate about his job. Sami Gabriel, president of Teamsters Local 320, said she had known Mr. Castile since he joined the union in 2002. She said Mr. Castile was a “quiet person” who was well regarded by co-workers and beloved by students in the St. Paul school cafeteria where he worked.
“I just need a little time and thought put into it,” Mr. Choi said at a news conference at his downtown office. “I think this is a very extraordinary case.”
“He was a great role model,” said Ms. Gabriel, who said Mr. Castile excelled in what traditionally has been a female-dominated profession. “And to have an African-American male in a lunchroom with kids who look up to him is a testament to who he was.”
If Mr. Choi opts to decide on charges himself, rather than presenting the case to grand jurors, he would be following his colleague in neighboring Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis. The prosecutor there, who also had long used grand juries for police shootings, changed his policy and decided himself to not charge the Minneapolis officers involved in last year’s fatal shooting of Jamar Clark, another case that prompted widespread protests in this area.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating his death, said the shooting happened after Officer Yanez and another officer, Joseph Kauser, pulled Mr. Castile over Wednesday night in Falcon Heights, a suburb of St. Paul that St. Anthony police are contracted to patrol.
Governor Dayton, a Democrat, who angered some in law enforcement Thursday by saying he thought Mr. Castile probably would not have been shot if he were white, said Friday that he was standing by those comments.
Investigators gave few details about what had happened, but they said that Officer Yanez had approached from the driver’s side and Officer Kauser from the passenger’s side, and that Officer Yanez eventually opened fire. State officials said a gun was recovered from the scene, though the Facebook Live video suggested Mr. Castile might have had a permit to carry a gun legally. State officials said they were barred by law from saying whether Mr. Castile had a concealed-carry permit.
Mr. Dayton, who has at times mingled with the protesters outside his home, said he appreciated the demonstrators’ peaceful tone. On Friday, he said he planned to meet with African-American pastors and civic leaders in the coming days, and called for people to “react nonviolently.”
Investigators released scant information about Officer Yanez, though he was mentioned in last year’s St. Anthony Police Department annual report as giving a tour to Cub Scouts, participating in a “Shop With a Cop” program with local youth and volunteering at a Cinco de Mayo celebration. That report also said Officer Yanez was a member of an organization for Latino police officers. He and Officer Kauser are now on standard administrative leave.
“I make an appeal to everyone in Minnesota for calm, for understanding of this difficult time and the need for calm and nonviolence,” said Mr. Dayton, who also spoke of a shooting in Minneapolis on Friday that left a toddler dead. “We’ll get through this terrible time here in Minnesota if we can all recognize that and not take any actions that are going to exacerbate a very difficult situation.”
No one answered the door Thursday night and the lights were turned off at a home where records indicated Officer Yanez lives.
Sean Gormley, executive director of Law Enforcement Labor Services, the union representing St. Anthony officers, released a statement calling the Facebook Live video “emotional” and “difficult to watch,” while still urging due process for the officers.
“It’s critically important to remember, despite the graphic nature of the video, that there is still a great deal we don’t know about what happened in this incident and why,” Mr. Gormley said.
