and I'm going to say a LOT more in a second.
First let me get something off my chest. I am sorry that Philando Castille died. I am truly sorry that a man was shot in a car in front of a young girl of 4 who is the most composed kid on the planet after having 4 - 5 gunshots (est., I wasn't there) go off and potentially even end up in the body of the car she was sitting in while her, her mother known as "Lavish" and Mr. Castille drove along on July the 6th.
No kid should have to witness such a thing. Yes, BlackLivesMatter. Not that organization mind you, but actual black lives. Black people. Some people have other names for them. I don't my Dad raised me to be respectful and for YEARS I have been told by Black people in my life to call them Black.
Yes, I am sorry he was shot. But I am also sorry that what we see on the video posted to Facebook Live is INCOMPLETE. It's not a full record of the car moving, being pulled over, waiting for the policeman to either enter information into his car computer, or to call into the station to report his location, give license make and model of the vehicle, etc., all the while Mr. Castille was perhaps moving his gun around to where he could get to it? Or was he looking for his license and registration? Or was he dealing with Lavish yelling at him for being pulled over and perhaps them getting caught with drugs (see her video from July 4th posted online of her smoking weed in the car while her daughter was in a confined space breathing that in at age 4).
What all happened before the 4-5 shots rang out? Why wasn't that kid screaming or shaking? Why wasn't Lavish screaming or shaking? Her loved one had just had 4-5 slugs at close range plugged into his arm (the cop shot his arm off!! she said in the video), the arm was not shot off, it was still attached. How LONG were they sitting there with Mr Castille Bleeding out before Ms Lavish turned on her phone to go live with the world while Mr Castille was moaning and groaning and bleeding out?
How long did she let him bleed before she turned on the phone??? 1 Minute? 5 Minutes? She could have dialed 911 and left the line open and had the entire episode be recorded by police and have a LIVE BOYFRIEND, but she wanted to get the video done as she'd done so many times.
Those are some questions I have. Those are questions I would be wanting answers to if I was going to sit on a jury. Those are questions that Castille's family should be asking Ms. Lavish and her GoFundMe account that is raising funds for her.
Yes, Black Lives Matter. You're damn right they do. Mr. Castille's life mattered. We don't know his actions before the video came on, because conveniently the camera was left off. Ms Lavish had done videos many times before. We know, we can search for them on the internet and they are everywhere! She could have had that camera on for the entire stop. She didn't. WHY???
Mr Castille's life matters to me. I pray for him. I think he was with someone who didn't want the best for him. Why? Because based on what I saw, she was too busy talking to her audience than she was to RENDER AID to someone who she witnessed being shot. Being a MOM, she would know how to do certain things. Moms have instincts. They have unique powers when someone they love is mistreated or hurt. They know how to stop bleeding.
Under the statutes of the State of Minnesota there is one which interested me in particular. DUTY to Render Aid, here's the link to the page for it: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=609.662
Basically that page says that if you see someone get shot you have a duty to render aid to that victim. She didn't render any aid. Recording a video is NOT rendering aid. There is no direct pressure placed on the bullet entries to stop or slow bleeding. There is no bandaging being done, there is no calling 911 and telling them that there's a murderous cop holding them there while the love of her life bleeds out "Oh god don't tell me that he just went like that" (he was still groaning and moving in the video for more than a minute and a half from when she started the recording. He'd been shot for how many minutes before that? We don't know "yet".
Anyway, people are attacking cops without all the facts in these cases. I am truly sorry that Mr. Castille died. But he did not completely die at the gun of a policeman. He died because his girlfriend did not do what any decent human being would do for their loved one and that is to help them in their time of need.
Something to think about as you ride around with Ms. Lavish in your car, if you get pulled over and shot will she help you out? Or will she put on some makeup and say "lights, camera, action, time to go LIVE ON FACEBOOK!!"
In my opinion, FACEBOOK should remove her video from ever being played on their site. Why? Because it shows that she allowed a human being to die in her presence while she could have gotten her butt out of the car with hands up wayyyy before she went live and allowed Mr Castille to be helped.
I believe she's guilty of his death as well.
My prayers are for Mr. Castille, his family, and for the facts to be shown that he could have been saved. Once that's done, for all those screaming from the tops of buildings and protesting to take a step back and take a deep breath and say "SHIT!!!! Maybe we shouldn't all jump on the BLACK LIVES MATTER TRAIN so damn quickly, because in the end, we might be wrong about what happened."
God Bless ALL who read this. It's a tough read.