Minnesota officer who killed Philando Castile charged with manslaughter
The Ramsey County Attorney's Office in St. Paul, Minnesota, announced Wednesday that police officer Jeronimo Yanez would face charges over the shooting death of 32-year-old Philando Castile. Yanez shot and killed Castile, an unarmed black man, in Falcon Heights on July 6, after stopping Castile and his girlfriend Diamond Reynolds for a broken tail light. He will face one count of second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm.
Ramsey County Attorney General John Choi said in a press conference Wednesday that Castile was not to blame for his own death. "No other police officer in a similar situation would have used deadly force," Choi said, as reported by Fox affiliate KSMP. Reynolds, who live-streamed the aftermath of Yanez's shooting of Castile on Facebook, said in the video that Castile had informed Yanez that he was carrying a firearm, for which he had a permit.
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