Thousands turn out to protest Castile shooting verdict in Minnesota


An estimated 2,000 people turned out Friday night in St. Paul, Minnesota, to protest the "not guilty" verdict in the shooting death of black motorist Philando Castile by police officer Jeronimo Yanez during a traffic stop last year.
Carrying signs reading "When will black lives matter?" and "Shame," marchers assembled outside the state capitol and walked along major thoroughfares. "I'm mad as hell right now. Yes, I am," said Castile's mother, Valerie. "The system continues to fail black people."
"I'm incredibly disappointed with the jury's verdict," said a statement from Diamond Reynolds, Castile's girlfriend, who was in the car with her young daughter during the shooting. "It is a sad state of affairs when this type of criminal conduct is condoned simply because Yanez is a policeman."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Police arrested 18 people at the protest, reportedly including at least two journalists. Bonnie Kristian
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Quiz of The Week: 17 – 23 May
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
North Korea's army of fake IT workers
The Explainer Using AI and stolen information to craft false identities, they are becoming an 'increasing menace' to top tech companies in the US and UK
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will the Enhanced Games change how we see doping?
Podcast Plus, how will autonomous weapons change warfare? And are Reform supporters more datable than Tories?
-
2 Israel Embassy staff shot dead at DC Jewish museum
speed read The suspected gunman chanted 'free, free Palestine'
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California
-
Suspect charged after 11 die in Vancouver car attack
Speed Read Kai-Ji Adam Lo drove an SUV into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Day festival
-
Kenya arrests alleged ant smugglers
speed read Two young Belgians have been charged for attempting to smuggle ants out of the country to exotic pet buyers
-
Judge ends Eric Adams case, Trump leverage
Speed Read Federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams were dismissed, as requested by Trump's Justice Department
-
Texas arrests midwife on felony abortion charges
Speed Read Maria Margarita Rojas and an employee at one of her clinics are the first to be criminally charged under Texas' near-total abortion ban
-
South Carolina to execute prisoner by firing squad
speed read Death row inmate Brad Sigmon prefers the squad over the electric chair or lethal injection, his lawyer said
-
Mexico extradites 29 cartel figures amid US tariff threat
Speed Read The extradited suspects include Rafael Caro Quintero, long sought after killing a US narcotics agent