Officer in Philando Castile shooting to be charged

A Twin Cities incident which made literal worldwide headlines is moving to the next phase.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said he has determined that the use of deadly force in the shooting of Philando Castile last July was not justified.

“Unreasonable fear can not justify the use of deadly force,” Choi said during a press conference Wednesday.

He is bringing second degree manslaughter and dangerous discharge of a firearm charges against St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez.

The case of the 32-year-old man black man who was shot to death on July 6 in Falcon Heights by a St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez has been in the hands of the county attorney’s office for review since the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension turned over its investigation findings to the prosecutors at the end of September.

At the time, Choi said, “Our office will work as efficiently as possible, while ensuring we conduct a diligent and thorough prosecution review.”

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said he has determined that the use of deadly force in the shooting of Philando Castile last July was not justified.

Just a few quick thoughts:

- For charges to be brought means there were some serious irregularities discovered in Officer Yanez's behavior. Law enforcement typically has a high liability threshold, so it's obvious that Yanez, in the opinion of investigators, grossly violated standard procedures.

- I'm wary of falling into the trap of making a knee-jerk assumption that this incident was merely the result of an officer's blatant racism. That said, I find it difficult (not impossible, but difficult) to comprehend that had it been a white man pulled over and he emphasized he had a permit to carry the firearm on his person, he would not have been shot dead.

- The politicization of these high profile police incidents has never made sense to me. If Yanez was indeed negligent, it doesn't mean criticisms levied towards him is a universal rebuke of law enforcement. Also, charges being brought against Yanez does not necessarily mean there was a miscarriage of justice in other high profile shooting deaths of black men. 

- Before the Castile shooting, there had been a well documented testimonial from a local man regarding a disturbing interaction with St. Anthony police in 2013. His warnings about the SAPD officers' behavior needing to be more closely scrutinized went unheeded. If the Castile incident doesn't drive home the point that there may be training issues, I don't know what it will take.



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