Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators process the scene of where a police officer shot and killed 32-year-old Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, on July 6, 2016. Photo by Tony Webster / tony@tonywebster.com
Steve Russell, a member of the Cherokee Nation, comments on the fatal shooting of Philando Castile by a police officer in Minnesota, noting the role of race and privilege in the aftermath of the situation:
After lawyering up and making sure that nothing in his narrative would conflict with video evidence—and don't take this to be a criticism, just a complaint that it's not two-way—the officer who shot Philando Castile has spoken through his attorney. He said the killing had nothing to do with race and everything to do with the presence of a gun. Therefore, had the deceased not had a pistol permit, his chances of being alive today would substantially improve. The police officer who killed Castile says the gun was responsible. This is not a rhetorical trick. To say that the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun ignores that most gun deaths are not about good guys and bad guys. They are simply about guns. . . . Look at that video and listen to that officer's voice. His state of mind is obvious. If being notified the civilian had a gun did that, he's too tightly wrapped to be a law enforcement officer. Ditto seeing a gun in the possession of somebody with a permit--and that could be anybody since the NRA got its way and most states "shall issue" a permit unless a disqualification appears within a stated time. If you believe what the officer said, a gun rather than a person killed that victim. His own gun.Get the Story:
Steve Russell: It's About Guns and the Hands They're In—Or Not (Indian Country Today 7/18)
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