MINNEAPOLIS _ Fallout from the fatal shooting of Philando Castile by a St. Anthony, Minn., police officer continued to reverberate across the Twin Cities Friday, as noted civil rights activist Jesse Jackson paid a visit to St. Paul, while Gov. Mark Dayton defended comments that racism likely was a factor.
Shortly after paying a visit to Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, Jackson surprised protesters who have gathered since Wednesday outside the governor's residence in St. Paul.
"Our brother will live as long as we will remember him. We will not forget," Jackson said in a brief address to the crowd.
Jackson's comments came hours after members of Black Lives Matter St. Paul called on the city of Falcon Heights to end its contract with the St. Anthony Police Department. The demand came in the wake of Wednesday night's shooting in Falcon Heights of Castile, a black man from St. Paul who was killed by St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez during a traffic stop Wednesday night. Yanez and his partner, Joseph Kauser, were placed on paid administrative leave.
Castile had a valid permit to carry a gun when he was shot, a source confirmed to the Star Tribune. His final minutes were live-streamed by Reynolds, who was a passenger in the car along with her 4-year-old daughter. In the video, Reynolds said Castile told Yanez that he had a permit, was carrying a gun and was reaching for his identification when he was shot.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi called for a "prompt and thorough" investigation into the shooting, but he hasn't decided whether he will use a grand jury to determine whether charges should be brought against the officers. In an effort to show transparency, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman declined to use a grand jury when he declined this past spring to charge two Minneapolis police officers in the November shooting of a black man, Jamar Clark.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is investigating the case and the Choi's office has been working closely with the agency, he said. Typically, Choi's office has presented information about officer-involved incidents to a grand jury.
"I believe there are benefits to doing so," Choi said of the grand jury process. "However, I will decide how best to proceed at a later time."
Choi acknowledged that the Facebook video shot by Reynolds will be a key piece of evidence in the case, but not the only evidence.
"What is depicted in the video, it makes you sad to just watch all of that unfold," he said, "but the public needs to understand, we have to have the total picture."
After late-night tension at continued protests in front of the governor's residence, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said in a statement that he has told Police Chief Todd Axtell to leave all options open to address violence stemming from protests. One person was arrested Thursday night after protesters smashed the windows of an empty police car and a store on Grand Avenue.
The day after Dayton said he didn't think Castile would have been shot had he been white, the comment drew criticism from some lawmakers and members of the law enforcement community. Dennis Flaherty, executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, called the comments "incendiary," saying Dayton's "extraordinarily presumptive conclusion that the tragic incident in Falcon Heights was motivated by race is the height of political malfeasance that could lead to a miscarriage of justice, if not more violence."
Dayton defended his comments, saying they wouldn't hinder the BCA's investigation.
"They are professionals, they're separate from me, they have an obligation that they take very, very seriously to go without bias or prejudice into the facts. ... I don't think my comments are going to be influential or should be influential on how they conduct their investigation or what their conclusions are," Dayton said.
The Falcon Heights City Council, in an emergency meeting Friday, voted to hire a third-party public relations firm to represent the city during the aftermath of the shooting. The council also approved the allocation of $50,000 for emergency costs related to the incident.
"I want to extend my deepest and most heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends of Philando Castile," Mayor Peter Lindstrom said in a brief statement after the meeting. "This incident has ripped into the fabric of our small community."
Rashad Turner, lead organizer for the Black Lives Matter St. Paul, announced a news conference that a task force was being formed that will include Black Lives Matter to meet with Lindstrom to discuss policing policies, including the demand to end its contract with St. Anthony police. Cornell Brooks, president and CEO of the national NAACP, will be flying into the Twin Cities on Sunday.
In Philadelphia, likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton spoke to the general conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church about the killings of the Dallas officers and the black men by police in Louisiana and Minnesota. Clinton specifically praised the 4-year-old daughter of Diamond Reynolds, "who bravely comforted her mother while Philando died in front of them."
Wrapping his evening address to the crowd, Jackson applauded the multigenerational, diverse crowd whose ranks swelled into the thousands on Thursday.
"You are sending a message to the whole world when people see you here in Minnesota," he said. "Black and white, young and old together, you represent the best in us. Dr. King would love to see you today."
