The Police Shooting Of Philando Castile Sparks Protests At The Minnesota Governor’s Mansion

Wednesday evening saw the death of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota in yet another police shooting of a black man. This incident followed just days after the senseless death of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Castile was shot in front of his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and a young child. The graphic and bloody aftermath video showed Reynolds talking to the camera: “Please don’t tell me my boyfriend’s gone … He works for St. Paul Public Schools. He’s never been in jail, anything. He’s not a gang member, anything.”

According to Reynolds’ account, Castile had told the officer he was licensed to carry a firearm, and a gun was in the car. He reached for his wallet to provide his driver’s license, and the officer reportedly shot him at least three times. Castile later died at an area hospital, and social media filled up with a wealth of protesting tweets under the #FalconHeightsShooting hashtag. Neither presumptive presidential nominee has addressed the matter on Twitter, but Bernie Sanders tweeted that this violence has “become an all too common occurrence for people of color” and must end.

The outrage isn’t only visible on social media. All night long, protests took place in front of Governor Mark Dayton’s mansion in St. Paul. Reporters Ted Haller and Leila Navidi recorded videos of protesters shouting Castile’s name and telling Dayton to “Wake up!”

Other local media members also tweeted out photos of the ongoing protests, which remained peaceful, but arrived with fires and and signage aplenty. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is continuing to investigate the situation as it further unfolds.