I found a news story with cell phone video and it's even more clear how many cars were in the background.Originally Posted by voodoo_man
I found a news story with cell phone video and it's even more clear how many cars were in the background.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
That's just no beuno.
Dash camera from the Castile shooting:
“Conspiracy theories are just spoiler alerts these days.”
Was literally coming here to post it right this second.
Anyway, reaching for a firearm(legal or not) is not a smart move when an officer is present and repeatedly tells you not to.
Looked like the officer reached in and attempted to grab the guys hand or the gun then disengaged (presumably due to the subject having control of the pistol) in order to discharge his weapon.
From what I also understand that there is a possibility that Castile may have had a CCW, but his actions were contradictory of those typically having a CCW.
If I saw this video at the time of initial press coverage I'd have said it was a good shoot, unless there is another video which shows Castile hand's up the entire time and him not moving once, which was clearly not the case.
Just to clarify, the defense didn't dispute that he possessed a CCW license, and mentioned in their closing that it was legal. The dispute was over if he touched the gun or his wallet after being asked to produce his wallet.
Right, I am sure that's one of the points of contention, the question would be does the prosecution have proof it was his wallet over his gun? The Passenger was likely discredited as a good witness and the officer's clear point of view would have been attacked as well, but would generate reasonable doubt, which it clearly did to find the officer not guilty.
Just to point out, it does not matter if castile had a valid ccw or not. The fact that he made specific and deliberate movements towards that firearm and gave the officer the belief that he was going to cause him serious injury and/or death in the following moments provided the response we saw on the video, not whether castile had a valid ccw. If he didn't have a valid ccw, would the officer still have been arrested/prosecuted? It's the same argument, "he was reaching for his wallet."
I think that the credibility of the witness and castile were both attacked and overcome early on in the trial and that is probably because, if what I read was correct, castile had THC in his system (DUI, firearm possession while intox/high is an issue) and his passenger GF has videos of her smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol while her child(ren?) was around her. Easy ways to discredit witnesses and subjects for their actions and subsequent lies.
Just a note, I did not follow the trial and I have no knowledge of what the cases either side put forth were. I just know from personal experience seeing these things play out in court that these would probably be the tactics/topics used. There was also probably a good bit of info which was provided to the jurors which was not covered by the media and it was probably in favor of the officer. This is almost always the case as the media wants to see LEO's dragged through the mud, so they twist facts and lie on purpose.
How do you explain everyone's calm demeanor, except for the officer?
Castile calmly and proactively informs officer that he has a firearm. Then, I am guessing *stupidly* roots for wallet for ID he was asked to produce, briefly ignoring officer's new commands and immediately gets lit up. I read somewhere that his gun was in his pocket and was never visible.
Looked to me like the officer lost his cool and acted prematurely.
Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Doodie Project?
Ever have a violent confrontation develop from seemingly out of nowhere? I've seen it numerous times. Especially from hardened criminals, they just don't react the same ways normal people do. Also Castile had THC in his system, so he clearly had a good reason to be calm.
The officer was perfectly calm until Castile reached into his pocket and the officer believed there was an immediate deadly force threat stemming from the actions of Castile, forcing his actions.
Also "briefly ignoring the officer" while reaching for a firearm is no different from actively trying to kill the officer. How long do you expect the officer to keep shouting commands at the guy? Reaching for a gun? Touching the gun? Holding the gun? Moving the gun towards the officer? Aiming it at the officer? Pulling the trigger at the officer? Where's the line? The officer's shoot threshold was exactly where we saw it. He is not wrong to react in this manner, clearly as he was found not guilty.
Also, people react to events differently. Just because one person is screaming and the one right next to him doesn't even tense up does not mean anything and does not show anything.
Looks to me like he hands the officer some sort of ID at 1:30 before he informs him about his permit. That suggests he didn't need to get his wallet, and the "it" he was reaching for was the gun.
In his possibly impaired state, he may have thought it was a good idea to show the gun to the officer.
I've seen impaired folks get stuck in loops where they kept trying to show me something, apparently thinking that if I saw it I'd understand what they were talking about. Verbal responses or commands had little effect.
His history shows a lot of experience with traffic stops, which could also explain the calm.
On the other hand, Castile could have been reaching for his wallet to show the officer his permit, but he had just primed the officer to expect a gun.
We'll probably never know.
Last edited by peterb; 06-21-2017 at 06:39 AM.
The item you see him hand over was proof of insurance, which he had retrieved from his glove box.
My suspicion, based on following the case only slightly, is that he likely misinterpreted the command "don't reach for the gun" literally, instead of as "don't move" which is what the officer clearly actually meant.
In his possibly impaired state, he may have thought it was a good idea to show the gun to the officer.
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