This is on the cover of today's New York Times:
The Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation on Wednesday into the fatal shooting of a black man [by the police] after a searing video of the encounter, aired repeatedly on television and social media, reignited contentious issues surrounding police killings of African-Americans.
That piece on the cover of today's NYTâa piece just 14 hours oldâis already out of date. Because another black man was shot by the police yesterday, another searing video is circulating on social media, and another Justice Department investigation is about to be opened.
Goldy Taylor writes at Daily Beast:
As the nation grappled with the killing of Alton Sterling by Baton Rouge police, a woman in a St. Paul, Minnesota, suburb is searching for answers after she watched a cop kill her boyfriend in the car they were in together. In the moments after a routine traffic stop that ended in the shooting of her boyfriend, Lavish Reynolds took to Facebook Live to tell their story. According to Reynolds, recording beside her dying boyfriend in a car with her 4-year-old daughter in the backseat, an officer demanded to see his license and registration. Her boyfriend, 32-year-old Philando Castile, a cafeteria supervisor at J.J. Hill Montessori School in St. Paul, informed the patrolman that he was carrying a licensed firearm and that he was reaching for his identification. Moments later, according to Reynolds, the officer unleashed four to five shots, striking her boyfriend in the arm. âStay with me,â she says to Castile. âStay with me⊠We got pulled over for a busted taillight in the back.â
Here's the video. Please don't mistake Lavish Reynolds' initial composure for calm. That's terror. The fear that she could be nextâor her daughter, sitting in the backseat watching her mother's boyfriend die, the killer's gun still pointed into the car:
They order to get on her knees. They handcuff her in front of her child. They will not tell her whether her partner is alive or dead. They put her and her child in the back of a cop car.
The video is harrowing and you will see a man bleed to death. But Lavish Reynolds wants you to watch:
In another Facebook live video Thursday, Reynolds said that she decided to live-stream the incident because she wanted it to go âviralâ in order show the world that âpolice are not here to protect and serve us. They are here to assassinate us. I wanted everyone in the world to know how much [the police] tamper with evidence and how much they manipulate our minds. I wanted it to go viral so that people could determine themselves as to what was right and what was wrong.â
A broken taillight can get you killed (Philando Castile). Selling CDs outside a convenience store can get you killed (Alton Sterling). Selling loose cigarettes can get you killed (Eric Garner). Playing in a park with a toy gun can get you killed (Tamir Rice). Shopping in a Walmart can get you killed (John Crawford III). A missing license plate can get you killed (Samuel DuBose). Worshiping in your church can get you killed (the Mother Emanuel nine). A routine traffic stop can get you shot (Levar Jones) or killed (Sandra Bland, Walter Scott). And as every African American knows, a routine traffic stop is never routine when youâre black.
NYT:
Mr. Castileâs mother, Valerie Castile, said she had taught her son to be extremely cautious when encountering members of law enforcement. âIf you get stopped by the police, comply,â Ms. Castile said. âComply, comply, comply.â
âMy son was a law-abiding citizen and he did nothing wrong,â she said. âHeâs no thug.â
She added, âI think he was just black in the wrong place.â
Not safe in your own car, in your own neighborhood, in your own homeâis there a right place to be black in the United States?
So many people work so hard to find a reason why executing a human being during a routine traffic stop is ok. IT'S NOT OK
â John Legend (@johnlegend) July 7, 2016
Three things seem clear: 1-Body cameras are not an adequate answer, 2-Open/concealed carry laws are no protection, 3-Cellphones are a must.
â Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) July 7, 2016
Imagine if powerful white men were as vocally outraged about an innocent black person being shot as they are about improper use of email.
â OhNoSheTwitnt (@OhNoSheTwitnt) July 6, 2016
Listen to how frightened the cop in the #FalconHeights video sounds. Why was he issued a gun? Why was he allowed to be a policeman?
â Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) July 7, 2016
They. Fired. A. Gun. Into. A. Car. With. A. Child. In. The. Back. Seat.
â Uba, MJ (@DirkMaravich) July 7, 2016
32 years old. No criminal record. Licensed to carry. Killed in front of his daughter.
Say his name#PhilandoCastile pic.twitter.com/YrfshVt7iJ
â jon park (@hoon) July 7, 2016