The attorney representing St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez in the shooting of Philando Castile says “race did not play a part in the use of deadly force at all.” Attorney Tom Kelly says it was the presence of a gun and the actions of Castile that led to the deadly shooting.
“Officer Yanez was reacting to the actions of the driver,” Kelly said in a phone conversation with Fox 9’s Paul Blume. “This incident had nothing to do with race. It had everything to do with the presence of a gun. Race did not play a part in the use of deadly force at all. It was the presence of a gun.”
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension identified Yanez as the officer who fatally shot Castile, and Officer Joseph Kauser as the other officer involved in the July 6 traffic stop in Falcon Heights. Both officers are four-year veterans of the St. Anthony Police Department and both were put on paid administrative leave.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton immediately requested a Justice Department investigation into the shooting and said he believes race was a factor in the shooting.
“Would this have happened if the driver and passenger were white?” Gov. Dayton asked in a news conference the morning after the shooting. “I don’t think it would have.”
Some media reports are comparing surveillance images of a recent convenience store robbery to images of Philando Castile, suggesting the officers stopped Castile as a possible suspect.
KARE 11 reports that 911 audio confirms that the traffic stop was because Castile matched the description of a robbery suspect. Police have not confirmed that audio and the family of Castile is calling the traffic stop based on possible robbery suspect an act of racial profiling.