 |
| Suspect in armed robbery: Is this Philando Castile? |
“Riding Dirty” The Curious Case of Philando Castile – Police Shooting
Listen up. Does racism exist? Of course. Some whites hate blacks. Some blacks hate whites. Some people hate everybody different. But when a tragedy happens like the police officer shooting of Philando Castile, it's important to make sure you have the whole truth and don't jump immediately to the evil cop conclusion.
We've heard all about how Castile was targeted for a traffic stop because he was black and that he'd been arrested numerous times for minor violations. What we were NOT told is that an armed robbery in the same vicinity where Castile was stopped occurred a few days earlier, that Castile matched the description of one of the perpetrators, and that the police had received a bulletin the day before about the suspects with the video so they were on alert.
What we also weren't told was that before the stop one of the officers said they were going to make the stop because "The driver looks like one of the suspects." A police audio also mentioned a license plate number that matched the car Castile was driving. This was no "broke taillight stop," but a suspect stop. In view of the fact the driver was suspected of being involved in an armed holdup, the police officer certainly could have been nervous.
One other fact we weren't told by the girl friend: Castile was a CRIPS gang member. Here's what Wiki says about the gang:
The Crips are one of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the United States,[1] with an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 members. It has been involved in murders, robberies and drug dealing, among other crimes.I'm not saying any of this justifies killing Castile, but it certainly changes the context of things doesn't it - from a minor traffic stop for a burned out tail light to the stop of a suspected armed felon? Couldn't that make any officer a little "twitchy" as the article described it? Let's pray for all involved. Unfortunately, these events generally turn into excuses for violent mayhem like the sniper attack on the Dallas police officers. God have mercy on all involved.
Here's the bottom-line: every time one of these incidents occur, you can count on Obama come out and open his pie-hole when the facts have yet to be determined....he's got the blood of 11 cops on his hands.
ReplyDeleteThis is so full of BS. It was a traffic stop. If it were more there would have been more officers called for as back up before approaching a suspect.Please explain why 5 bullets were needed to be used on a man in a seat belt with one hand in his rear pocket. Which was where his ID, and Permit to Carry were kept. When informed the officer of a weapon in the car. So if the Governor says this one stinks of racism, you don't need to make a conspiracy theory out of it.
ReplyDeleteWell, you must have been there.
ReplyDeleteActually it is remarkably like the situation in Ferguson following the robbery by the "gentle giant." There wasn't any backup there either. As the sister of a retired cop, I am in no hurry to jump to the evil racist cop conclusion.