The Philando Castile Verdict Was a Miscarriage of Justice

[AAAintheBeltway]

Wrong thing to say. Say "officer, I am a CCW permit holder." Keep hands on wheel. He will give you instructions. Alert him before you make any move and make sure he's ok with it.

This shooting could have come right out of a training video. How to get yourself shot. Never say " I have a gun" or "I'm armed." His partner might mishear and think it is a threat, even if the primary cop does not.

 

[Max E.]

Wrong thing to say. Say "officer, I am a CCW permit holder." Keep hands on wheel. He will give you instructions. Alert him before you make any move and make sure he's ok with it.

This shooting could have come right out of a training video. How to get yourself shot. Never say " I have a gun" or "I'm armed." His partner might mishear and think it is a threat, even if the primary cop does not.

Yeah there is no doubt mistakes were made on the other guys Philandro Castile's part too, but it still doesnt justify it. Thats one situation the cops have to get right. If i was in Caslitles position i would have been a hell of alot smarter too though, i wouldnt have moved my hands the second i told him i had a gun.

If you think of him reaching into the console when its already starting to get dark out, i can understand how that situation gets fucked up, on the cops side too. I bet the majority of people there wouldnt be much better than 50/50 at making that call if there life was on the line.

Its an unfortunate situation, but the cop has to pay some kind of a price for it in that situation i think, even if its just a criminal record for manslaughter and some community service, otherwise it sends the wrong message, and you just have cowboys out there who think they can just blow someones head off the second they say they have a gun in the vehicle if the guy moves slightly the wrong way.

 

[Nine_Ender]

Yeah there is no doubt mistakes were made on the other guys Philandro Castile's part too, but it still doesnt justify it. Thats one situation the cops have to get right. If i was in Caslitles position i would have been a hell of alot smarter too though, i wouldnt have moved my hands the second i told him i had a gun.

If you think of him reaching into the console when its already starting to get dark out, i can understand how that situation gets fucked up, on the cops side too. I bet the majority of people there wouldnt be much better than 50/50 at making that call if there life was on the line.

Its an unfortunate situation, but the cop has to pay some kind of a price for it in that situation i think, even if its just a criminal record for manslaughter and some community service, otherwise it sends the wrong message, and you just have cowboys out there who think they can just blow someones head off the second they say they have a gun in the vehicle if the guy moves slightly the wrong way.

There was no mistake at all made by Mr. Castile, you are just making excuses for what happened. In a country where guns are revered and social tensions get ratcheted up, events like these are inevitable. Blaming the victim even in part is not acceptable; he just ran into an unstable cop with hair trigger fears and questionable morals. And one cannot ignore the stats on these kind of events; they almost always involve killing men of color. It would not surprise me if Mr. Castile is at least as intelligent as you are and acted in a 100% rationale way. It is disrespectful of you to suggest otherwise.

 

[Max E.]

There was no mistake at all made by Mr. Castile, you are just making excuses for what happened. In a country where guns are revered and social tensions get ratcheted up, events like these are inevitable. Blaming the victim even in part is not acceptable; he just ran into an unstable cop with hair trigger fears and questionable morals. And one cannot ignore the stats on these kind of events; they almost always involve killing men of color. It would not surprise me if Mr. Castile is at least as intelligent as you are and acted in a 100% rationale way. It is disrespectful of you to suggest otherwise.

Apparently you didnt even take the time to watch the video since your mind is already made up regardless, at 1:35 where i have put the video below the cop instructs him three times not to reach for what hes reaching for and he decides to do it anyways. Like i have said earlier it doesnt justify what the cop does, but you are a fucking idiot if you say i was "Making excuses" when ive already come down against the officer and said I think there should be punishment.

Just because i said that the Castile guy fucked up too doesnt mean im making excuses, its pretty obvious he fucked up too, as evidenced by the fact that he is dead.

Also you are lying when you say that black people get shot by cops at a greater rate, when you compare violent crime statistics, vs number of white people killed by cops and number of black people killed by cops the numbers are pretty much spot on, but this is another lie the grievance community wont quit pushing.

 

[Tom B]

And one cannot ignore the stats on these kind of events; they almost always involve killing men of color.

Please provide "the stats" on these kind of events.

 

[Tsing Tao]

Dashboard footage of the incident released, while i think this cop definitely fucked up and deserved some kind of jail time, i can still empathize with the guy somewhat in this case, he was clearly scared shitless, and didnt want to do it, hes totally fucked up afterwords, not a stone cold killer.

Unfortunately in this kind of position mistakes like that are going to be made, but i think its wrong for the guy to just get off scott free, it sends the wrong message to the very few cops who are out there who actually are just looking to blow some dudes head off.

I understand why he would be scared. But a police officer is put in that position to perform a duty to the letter. If he/she cannot, then he/she should resign or be removed for the safety of all involved, including him/herself.

 

[Tsing Tao]

There was no mistake at all made by Mr. Castile, you are just making excuses for what happened. In a country where guns are revered and social tensions get ratcheted up, events like these are inevitable. Blaming the victim even in part is not acceptable; he just ran into an unstable cop with hair trigger fears and questionable morals. And one cannot ignore the stats on these kind of events; they almost always involve killing men of color. It would not surprise me if Mr. Castile is at least as intelligent as you are and acted in a 100% rationale way. It is disrespectful of you to suggest otherwise.

Oh, shut it already.

 

[Frederick Foresight]

There was no mistake at all made by Mr. Castile, you are just making excuses for what happened. In a country where guns are revered and social tensions get ratcheted up, events like these are inevitable. Blaming the victim even in part is not acceptable; he just ran into an unstable cop with hair trigger fears and questionable morals. And one cannot ignore the stats on these kind of events; they almost always involve killing men of color. It would not surprise me if Mr. Castile is at least as intelligent as you are and acted in a 100% rationale way. It is disrespectful of you to suggest otherwise.

And isn't it interesting that the NRA did not come out, as it usually does, in support of the right to bear arms without being persecuted or targeted, and especially shot for no good reason? I wonder what it was about this case in general, and Mr. Castile in particular, that didn't sit well with them...

 

[Frederick Foresight]

Wrong thing to say. Say "officer, I am a CCW permit holder." Keep hands on wheel. He will give you instructions. Alert him before you make any move and make sure he's ok with it.

This shooting could have come right out of a training video. How to get yourself shot. Never say " I have a gun" or "I'm armed." His partner might mishear and think it is a threat, even if the primary cop does not.

He advised them in advance rather than have them notice the gun without prior warning. Very hypothetically, if I had a gun, that is exactly what I would do while making sure that I wasn't moving and that my hands were in plain sight. Advance warning to avoid the risk of startle. And that is exactly what the victim did. You're finessing, Monday morning quarterbacking and apologizing for a street thug with a gun and badge. You carry a gun, it comes with responsibility. The cop fucked up big time. Where's the responsibility?

 

[AAAintheBeltway]

if I had a gun, that is exactly what I would do while making sure that I wasn't moving and that my hands were in plain sight. Advance warning to avoid the risk of startle. And that is exactly what the victim did. You're finessing, Monday morning quarterbacking and apologizing for a street thug with a gun and badge. You carry a gun, it comes with responsibility. The cop fucked up big time. Where's the responsibility?

I understand that you desperately want to blame a cop for shooting a black man, but the fact is, every self defense or firearms course will warn you not to say what this man said. If you say "Officer, I am a CCW permit holder", then he will ask if you are carrying and you say, with your hands on the steering wheel, "yes sir I am, what do you want me to do?"

When you say " I have a gun" or "I am armed", that sends at best a mixed message. Is it a threat or what? Recall that this cop thought he might have apprehended armed robbers, based on an earlier APB.

The policeman told him three times not to move his hands. I understand that people can get confused, that it might not have been clear, that it is hard to think straight when a cop is pointing a gun at you.

Should the cop have held off until he actually saw a weapon being drawn? Perhaps, but I am not in a position to judge that. TT or someone with more experience in this area might have an answer. I would expect the cops are trained in this type of interaction and part of that training emphasizes how quickly a gun can be deployed against them.

Clearly this was a tragedy. I think it does point up the need to rethink police training. This kind of incident is clearly unacceptable. It also points up how carrying a weapon, even legally, can affect people's perceptions of the risk you pose to them and can create unintended consequences.