NEW YORK (AA) – A woman live-streamed the aftermath of yet another fatal shooting of a black man at the hands of a white police officer.
Diamond “Lavish” Reynolds used Facebook Live late Wednesday to show the world what happened right after an officer shot her boyfriend, Philando Castile, 32, during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.
The graphic video, captioned “police”, showed Castile, a kitchen supervisor for the St. Paul school district, according to media reports, slumping in the driver’s seat, wearing a white t-shirt covered in blood, as a white police officer continued to hold his gun pointed squarely at the victim.
“We got pulled over for a busted tail light in the back,” Reynolds says in the video. “And the police just – he’s, he’s covered. He’s killed my boyfriend.
“He was trying to get out his ID and his wallet out of his pocket and he let the officer know that he had a firearm and he was reaching for his wallet. And the officer just shot him in his arm.”
The officer, breathing heavily and sounding distraught, tells Reynolds to keep her hands where they are. “I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his hand out!” he said, while cursing.
Reynolds is heard calmly praying. “Please don’t tell me this, Lord. Please Jesus don’t tell me that he’s gone. Please don’t tell me that he’s gone. Please officer, don’t tell me that you just did this to him.
“You shot four bullets into him sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir.”
Castile’s death comes a day after 37-year-old Alton Sterling was shot dead in an encounter with two white police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, triggering protests.
A police statement said the shooting in Minnesota occurred at 9 p.m. local time (0200GMT) and that a handgun was recovered.
Crowds gathered early Thursday at the governor’s mansion in protest, joined by Reynolds and Governor Mark Dayton.
“This kind of behavior is unacceptable,” Dayton said according to media reports. “Justice will be served in Minnesota.”
Reynolds repeated her story at the protest, saying she was “treated like a criminal” rather than the victim, while pointing out that the officer was crying and very nervous after the shooting, a local journalist, R. Stassen-Berger of the Pioneer Press reported.
Presidential candidates weighed in on the incident.
Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton wrote on Twitter that “America woke up to yet another tragedy of a life cut down too soon. Black Lives Matter.”
Bernie Sanders tweeted, “The violence that killed Alton Sterling and Philando Castile has become an all too common occurrence for people of color and IT. MUST. STOP.”
The usually loquacious Donald Trump has been silent about the two most recent police shootings.
