Minn. cop fatally shoots black man during traffic stop (Stillwater: law school, closing)

[Red Chili]

Nope I am not kidding you. 54k is a good starting salary, but for a Minneapolis cop...no thanks. $25/HR to start at a mnpls beat cop is not that much for the risk they take daily. I don't know what Chicago starts at, I was only talking about Minneapolis.

[treemoni]

What "risk" are you talking about? The Twin Cities is not a high crime area.

ETA

An entry level police officer in Chicago starts at $47k. This is in a city with a higher cost of living and higher crime rate than Minneapolis. $54k to patrol Mayberry (in comparison) is good money.

[chessgeek]

Today officer Jeronimo Yanez was charged with second degree manslaughter in the death of Philando Castile. There were two additional felony counts of intentional discharge of a dangerous weapon. The decision was made by Ramsey County attorney John Choi, who had been reviewing the evidence from investigators since September 28.

This is the first arrest of a police officer in over 150 Minnesota police involved deaths since 2000.

[Lyndarn]

Originally Posted by chessgeek

Today officer Jeronimo Yanez was charged with second degree manslaughter in the death of Philando Castile. There were two additional felony counts of intentional discharge of a dangerous weapon. The decision was made by Ramsey County attorney John Choi, who had been reviewing the evidence from investigators since September 28.

This is the first arrest of a police officer in over 150 Minnesota police involved deaths since 2000.

Officer charged with manslaughter in Philando Castile killing
Philando Castile killing: Officer charged with manslaughter - CNN.com
snip~

The incident, along with the July 5 fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, sparked protests nationwide and renewed the debate over the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
Castile, 32, told the officer he was legally carrying a gun and and paramedics found a loaded pistol in his shorts, but "the mere presence of a firearm alone cannot justify use of deadly force," Choi said.
"No reasonable officer knowing, seeing and hearing what Officer Yanez did at the time would have used deadly force under these circumstances," Choi said.

[Lyndarn]

Philando Castile had met the officer who shot him

Philando Castile had met the officer who shot him - CNN.com

The encounter takes up less than a line in a police report, and there's no way of telling if the two recognized each other on that fatal day. But it speaks to the number of encounters Castile had with law enforcement over the years. He was pulled over at least 52 times since 2002, something protesters argue is a sign of racial profiling.

read more~~

Newly released documents show that Yanez had a law enforcement encounter with Castile in 2011.

[chessgeek]

Originally Posted by Lyndarn

Officer charged with manslaughter in Philando Castile killing
Philando Castile killing: Officer charged with manslaughter - CNN.com
snip~

It is also notable that Yanez was not arrested (no handcuffs), but was merely given a summons to appear in court on Friday. He has definitely received fair treatment and due process beyond what the average citizen would receive for a similar incident.

Overall though, this has been a fair and thorough process and Ramsey County attorney John Choi should be commended for his thoughtful examination of the evidence and his decision.

[Unsettomati]

This says it all.

An attorney representing Castile’s family said that they also planned to file a civil lawsuit stemming from his death. The attorney, Glenda Hatchett, also said she believed this was the first time an officer in Minnesota has been charged for fatally shooting someone.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.370ef35c379a

Is anyone really some combination of gullible and naive enough to think that in the 158 year history of this state, every last police shooting prior to this one was lawful?

And but for the video evidence, this officer would also be off scot-free.

For the same reasons that the killing of law enforcement officers represents an attack on the very fabric of society and is thus of paramount concern, the unnecessary killing of citizenry by agents of the state represents predatory behavior on the part of the state against the people.

You don't get to just play the BUT I WAS SCARED! get-out-of-jail-free card. Killing someone has to be based on more than I WAS SCARED! When you kill a person who was not, in fact, a threat, that's on you.

[mr roboto]

Originally Posted by Unsettomati

This says it all.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.370ef35c379a

Is anyone really some combination of gullible and naive enough to think that in the 158 year history of this state, every last police shooting prior to this one was lawful?

And but for the video evidence, this officer would also be off scot-free.

For the same reasons that the killing of law enforcement officers represents an attack on the very fabric of society and is thus of paramount concern, the unnecessary killing of citizenry by agents of the state represents predatory behavior on the part of the state against the people.

You don't get to just play the BUT I WAS SCARED! get-out-of-jail-free card. Killing someone has to be based on more than I WAS SCARED! When you kill a person who was not, in fact, a threat, that's on you.

Technically the threshold for justifiable use of deadly force is if the officer had a reasonable fear for his or her safety or the safety of others. You are right it can't simply be "I felt afraid" but rather "a reasonable person would have been fearful for their life."

[Ghengis]

where did our OP slink off to?

[Mason3000]

I think Choi has done a very good job of things. Part of the reasons cops so often go free is that the public becomes outraged and demands "murder" charges, which are very difficult to prove. It's also very hard for anyone looking at this case to believe this was "murder" unless they have some sort of agenda. If they want a conviction 2nd Degree Manslaughter is a much more realistic charge. It also saves the DA from not prosecuting or from a Grand Jury finding nothing. This definitely gives the impression of fairness & creates a realistic path to conviction. Still legal analysts are saying it will be very hard to get a conviction in this case.