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Why do liberals think the police shooting Philando Castile is unjust, but think the police shooting Ashli Babbitt was fine?
- Thread starter DarkWizard12
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Compliance is the key here and in both cases, neither victim complied with law enforcement.
While I continue to contend that Officer Yanez acted hastily in the shooting death of Philando Castile, I believe had Mr. Castile conducted himself different in that moment, Officer Yanez likely wouldn't have shot him. For example: From the officer's dashcam video, we can see and hear starting around the 1:19 mark where Mr. Castile informs Officer Yanez he has a firearm on him. That was the absolute WRONG thing to say. What he should have said was NOTHING unless and until he was asked, "Do you have any weapons on you or inside the vehicle?". At which time, Mr. Castile should have answered in the affirm, "Yes, I have a weapon on me and it is legally licensed and registered". At that time, Officer Yanez might have directed that Mr. Castile put his hands on the steering wheel or have him stick his hands out of the driver's side window and keep them there until backup arrived to take further actions, i.e., have him exit his vehicle and search it since they had sufficient probably cause to stop him, i.e., busted tail light, and how search him, i.e., "your vehicle fits the description of a car seen leaving the scene of a recent convenient store robbery in the area," etc., etc., etc.
By Officer Yanez telling Mr. Castile, "Don't reach for it," it likely signaled in Castile's mind "well, I'm not reaching for my gun. I'm reaching for my wallet to give you my driver's license" which would make sense considering you can hear Mr. Castile say in his final dying breath, "I wasn't reaching" for his weapon.
Officer Yanez stated clearly on dashcam video at the 4:29 mark "I don't know where the gun was. He didn't tell me where the f-ing gun was". And at the 4:37 mark he mad clear he was "getting f-ing nervous". But at no point between the 4:16-4:25 marks when officers pulled Mr. Castile's body from his vehicle did they retrieve a firearm from his person. I'd also like to point out that although Officer Yanez claims he told Mr. Castile "Don't pull it out" meaning don't remove his gun from his person, he mentions this to the on-scene officer as if he gave this instruction prior to shooting Mr. Castile. This is false. Yes, Officer Yanez gave that instruction, but he did so after he had already fired upon Mr. Castile. I don't mean to rehash this episode, but I think it's important for people to understand what happened in the span of 1:25 seconds. Officer Yanez had no idea where Mr. Castile's gun was. All he knew were: 1) Philando Castile confessed he had a firearm on him; and 2) in his mind Philando Castile did not comply with his order. Whether that order was open to interpretation is irrelevant. (Personally, I think it was a bad order because it was conflicting as pointed out above.) Philando Castile should have complied and Officer Yanez wouldn't have made a rush to poor judgement despite what his "training" taught him.
Ashli Babbitt's case is different, but her non-compliance is still what got her killed.
No, she did have a weapon on her, but the law enforcement officer who shot her (whether Secret Service or Capital Police) didn't know that nor did it matter.
Ashli Babbitt was part of a riotous mod that stormed the U.S. Capital with what can only be surmised as having deadly intent. People shouted "Hang Mike Pence" followed by "Where's Nancy?" as that walked through the halls casing every office they found opened or could break down in search of the aforementioned elected officials and any other member of Congress they could find intent on doing them harm. When she along with those with her where told not to enter the area that was locked and sealed off from the public and was being protected by armed security, she did not comply with their directive. Instead, she entered the area through a broken window and was shot on sight.
Just as with Philando Castile, she failed to comply with orders from law enforcement and was shot and killed. What makes both of these situations more defensible than the other is Ashlie Babbitt was part of a larger group that was hell bent on committing mayhem that day, whereas, Officer Yanez acted out of fear, nervousness, uncertainty and a will to live never knowing exactly what Philado Castile was actually reaching for - his wallet or his gun.
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He knows the difference. This thread is simply designed to get a rise out of people and create partisan divisiveness.
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Edit to post #706:
Perhaps it was the poor audio quality or I was too reliant on the text scroll to accompany the dialog, but the CNN video in post #27 makes it clear that Philado Castile did tell Office Yanez he was not reaching for his gun prior to being shot.
At the 1:13 mark, Officer Yanez says to Mr. Castile, "Don't reach for it" after Castile informed him he had a gun on him. But just prior to this Officer Yanez asked Mr. Castile for his license and (proof of) insurance. At the 1:13 mark, Castile hands Officer Yanez something...not sure if it was his driver's license or proof of insurance, but this is when Castile informs Yanez he has a firearm on him and that's when Yanez tells him "Don't reach for it. Don't Pull it out." Castile then tells him "I'm not reaching for it." Yanez then says again, "Don't pull it out" and then shoots him 8 times. Then as Castile is laying slumped over dying, he says clearly, "I wasn't reaching (presumably he mean 'for his gun')".
Officer Yanez' Q&A summary to the on-scene officer after the incident tells me he reacted based moreso of the one piece of information that sealed Philando Castile's fate that evening: He told a law enforcement officer he was armed during a routine traffic stop. Had he said nothing about it, he probably would have lived. Had he placed it in his glove box and then informed law enforcement he had a gun in the car, he probably would have lived. Had he interpreted Officer Yanez' instructions properly to infer that "Don't reach for it" and "Don't pull it out" in particular meant "Sit still, don't make any sudden moves that could be misinterpreted and SPEAK LOUD AND CLEARLY, perhaps he would have lived.
Ashli Babbitt had none of these misinterpretations to guide her judgement.
Perhaps it was the poor audio quality or I was too reliant on the text scroll to accompany the dialog, but the CNN video in post #27 makes it clear that Philado Castile did tell Office Yanez he was not reaching for his gun prior to being shot.
At the 1:13 mark, Officer Yanez says to Mr. Castile, "Don't reach for it" after Castile informed him he had a gun on him. But just prior to this Officer Yanez asked Mr. Castile for his license and (proof of) insurance. At the 1:13 mark, Castile hands Officer Yanez something...not sure if it was his driver's license or proof of insurance, but this is when Castile informs Yanez he has a firearm on him and that's when Yanez tells him "Don't reach for it. Don't Pull it out." Castile then tells him "I'm not reaching for it." Yanez then says again, "Don't pull it out" and then shoots him 8 times. Then as Castile is laying slumped over dying, he says clearly, "I wasn't reaching (presumably he mean 'for his gun')".
Officer Yanez' Q&A summary to the on-scene officer after the incident tells me he reacted based moreso of the one piece of information that sealed Philando Castile's fate that evening: He told a law enforcement officer he was armed during a routine traffic stop. Had he said nothing about it, he probably would have lived. Had he placed it in his glove box and then informed law enforcement he had a gun in the car, he probably would have lived. Had he interpreted Officer Yanez' instructions properly to infer that "Don't reach for it" and "Don't pull it out" in particular meant "Sit still, don't make any sudden moves that could be misinterpreted and SPEAK LOUD AND CLEARLY, perhaps he would have lived.
Ashli Babbitt had none of these misinterpretations to guide her judgement.
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How many others were with you?
Were you with a group that was doing damage to the building to gain access?
I highly doubt your experience was the same as those who entered Congress on 1/6