More people are learning about who Philando Castile the man was following the hurtful news that his murderer would be acquitted of all charges. We now know that he was a cafeteria supervisor who memorized all 500 of his student's food allergies. We know that he's never been incarcerated or in serious problems with the police, and we also know that he had legal documentation to carry a firearm. What is widely unknown however is that between July 2002 and his slaying in 2016 Castile had over 46 traffic stops. NPR reports that out of the 46 stops only 6 offenses were things that could've been noticed from the outside. Castile was being systematically targeted by the police until they finally killed him.
On July 06, 2012 Minnesota Police officer Jeromino Yanez pulled over Philando Castile 32, for a broken tail light. Castile was traveling with his girlfriend Diamond Reynolds and her four year old daughter. While reaching for his license and registration, Castile informed the officer he was legally licensed to carry and that he had a firearm in the vehicle. Yanez proceeded to fire 7 shots into the vehicle fatally wounding Castile. The dash cam footage released by the Minnesota police department captured Castile's final words "I wasn't reaching."
Castile's girlfriend also captured the incident on Facebook live. A panicked and inexperienced Yanez can be seen screaming profanities and calling for back up. Yanez will later be charged with manslaughter and two counts of endangerment. A jury has acquitted him of all charges. Yanez's only consequence for the slaying will be his dismissal from the police force which is not justice.
Jeronimo Yanez and other officers like him deserve to have their lives taken away the way he took Castile's life away. There is a problem with police officers using unnecessary deadly force and not being properly reprimanded. This cycle perpetuates the sick culture of justifying slayings by police officers. There will always be acquittals as long as an officer says he "feared for his life" he will have justification for using his weapon.
Who are the jurors?
The jurors who acquitted Yanez comprised of 10 white jurors and 2 black jurors all of whom either had police affiliations or were pro-police.
The legal system as it stands today is systematically rigged to favor blue lives over black lives. The culture's blind respect for trigger happy racists who hide behind badges and operate on fear and hate is the same culture responsible for this gross injustice. Here is a man working in the confines of the law; he was compliant, he had legal right to carry, he raised his hands, and he was still shot in cold blood.
The NRA who traditionally have been very vocal supporters in cases involving the second amendment have remained silent on Castile's murder and the verdict. They have released no statement at all despite the fact that Castile had legal right to carry.
This verdict and others like it drives the message home that black lives really do not matter.
Philando Castile
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Rivers of Death
Rivers bring water the element essential to all life on Earth but wherever rivers flow they also bring death surprise attacks Savage kills and brutal fights every day is a battle for survival on these rivers of [Applause] death I'm under the African Sun Staying Alive is hot thirsty work and among the ranks of animals jostling to get a drink lurk Killers waiting to strike but while Lions may be fearsome and the huge Nile crocodiles ruthless Predators one of the continent's deadliest River Killers is mostly vegetarian renowned wallowers spending up to 16 hours a day lounging in the water hippos could be mistaken for relaxed creatures and yet the river horse as their name translates from ancient Greek can be a very angry pony indeed with tusks up to a foot and a half long hippos are literally armed to the teeth and a charging bull Hipp can impact with the weight force of a pickup truck what's more hippos May brutally defend their territory an Impala has been chased into a muddy Watering Hole by a lion it's stuck but for fortunately for the stricken analou the lion is reluctant to follow it into the Meer unfortunately it finds itself in the domain of a hippo ill disposed to uninvited guests the hippo's not stealing the watching Lion's meal she's most likely just aggressively defending her calf and the Impala pays the ultimate price for crossing a doting mother hippos are thought to kill more people each year than the rest of Africa's most dangerous animals combined and during mating season their ruthless aggression is directed at other hippos two bulls square up the pod's dominant male and a Challenger at stake the Riverbanks Prime mating territory and a Herm of females the dominant male puts on an aggressive display posturing to show he will not yield but the interloper Demands a fight finally the dominant male is Victorious the Conqueror celebrates with a dung shower marking the border of the territory he has successfully defended while the vanquished suffers more than just the agony of defeat his back is carved open and by Sunset the crocodiles are watching closely they'd be unlikely to take on a bull in rude Health but now they Circle an expectation the hippo breathes his last the price of insurrection is life his Hulk will not go to waste the crocodiles move in swiftly to Feast on the corpse for these voracious Predators it's a considerable meal but one dead hippo is a mere snack compared with the annual Feast provided by a particular African river each year the serengetti vast grass Plains filled to the Horizon with grazing animals taking part in one of Nature's greatest spectacles around 1 and2 million wilder beast join 700,000 other herbivores on the Great Migration around 1 in six of these migrants will die before completing the 500 M circuit many are outrun and taken down down by Africa's formidable array of Savannah carnivores their Journey coming to a Grizzly end but one of the deadliest single obstacles the vast herds must Traverse is the mara River after 3 months on the move the wilderbeast are exhausted and emaciated all that separates them from the Fresh pastures of the msai mara is the width of the river and a whole bunch of huge ravit Nile crocodiles despite the chilling threat posed by these powerful Predators some of the herd are either oblivious to the danger or so thirsty they dare to take a drink anyway for an unlucky few it will be their last and these witless victims merely wet the Croc's appetite the true Feast begins when the first of the herd Braves the river in the crush and Chaos of the crossing the 16t Crocs grabs scores of victims when 1,600 lb of musc futile the marus Crocs survive on meager rations for most of the year so take full advantage of the great migrations time of Plenty they Gorge themselves eating up to half their body weight in one sitting and with so many different species crossing the river the banquet is as varied as it is Bountiful but not all Africa's Crocs have such an easy meal ticket on the banks of this Kenyon River a Croc has got too close to a pack of feeding Lions a move it's about to regret it's a fierce attack but the Crocs skin is covered in bony armor plating eventually the Lion's Uninvited Guest Retreats having taught the Crocs and dinner manners the big cats return to the carcass the Amazon is a giant of a river and and conceal some monstrous Predators which kill with a crush and in a bloody frenzy draining a lowland Basin of close to 3 million square miles around 1/5 of the water that runs off the earth's surface is carried by the Amazon this giant of a river is renowned for its oversized residence both prey and Predator around 4 ft long and and weighing as much as an adult human capibara are the world's largest rodent they're
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