Diamond Reynolds cried tears during a recent interview. The tears from the eyes of Diamond Reynolds represents her pain. Her pain and subsequent tears both exemplify her humanity. After all, her boyfriend is dead.
I know it’s surprising, but Black people do have feelings.
After all, we are indeed human.
Philando Castile was shot and killed by officer Jeronimo Yanez of the St. Anthony Police Department. As I pointed out within a few hours of the shooting, Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, managed to capture the immediate moments after the shooting by going live on Facebook. Reynolds has since been quite vocal as an advocate for justice on behalf of Castile.
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.
“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.
But even as Officer Yanez’s background became clearer, the specifics of the shooting that left Mr. Castile dead remained murky.
In the video bellow, Reynolds explains the events as they unfolded after the shooting. In it, she calls for the state of Minnesota to pay for Castile’s funeral. Reynolds described the officer’s ethnicity as “Asain.” And, just after breaking down in tears, she says that the officer involved probably went home to his wife and proudly proclaim that he shot a “nigger.”
Unlike Dallas, Texas, protests across the country in the wake of the death of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling have been nonviolent. Both men were killed by police officers in separate incidents his week. My hope is that protests remain peaceful. However, tension on both sides of the debate is heightened since the assassination of five police officers in Dallas, during protests on Thursday. Things must get better. At this time, however, we can’t afford for them to become any worse than they have. The violence must end now.
Watch the video below: