--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.snopes.com/philando-castile-was-not-wanted-for-armed-robbery/ A Suspect Rumor An article published shortly after Philando Castile was killed by police officers in Minnesota falsely reported that he was a suspect in an armed robbery case. CLAIM: Philando Castile was wanted for armed robbery when he was killed by police officers. MOSTLY FALSE WHAT'S TRUE: Police who pulled over and killed Philando Castile reported they thought he might have resembled a suspect in an armed robbery case. WHAT'S FALSE: Philando Castile was not "wanted" on an armed robbery charge or a "suspect" in such a case at the time he was killed. ORIGIN:On 8 July 2016, the web site Conservative Treehouse published an article that perpetuated several false rumors about the death of Philando Castile, who was shot and killed by police officers during a traffic stop in Minnesota. Among those rumors was the claim that Castile was wanted for armed robbery and was illegally carrying a firearm: Confirmed – Philando Castile Was an Armed Robbery Suspect – False Media Narrative Now Driving Cop Killings… The Falcon Heights, Minnesota police shooting of Philando Castile is based around an entirely false narrative. Castile and Ms. Diamond Reynolds (Facebook video uploader) were pulled over by police because Castile matched a BOLO Alert for an armed robbery suspect from four days prior. Unfortunately, the false statements in the video — which have gone viral, and are being pushed by the mainstream media — have created a backlash against police officers. The claim that Castile was pulled over because he matched the profile of an armed robbery suspect is based on audio obtained by Minneapolis/St. Paul television station KARE, which purportedly captured officers discussing the reason for the traffic stop before the shooting occurred: “I’m going to stop a car,” the officer says on the recording. “I’m going to check IDs. I have reason to pull it over.” “The two occupants just look like people that were involved in a robbery,” the officer says. “The driver looks more like one of our suspects, just ‘cause of the wide set nose,” the officer continues. Although the KARE report noted that the audio was provided by a viewer and had not been authenticated by officials, the license plate number mentioned in the audio did match Castile's car, and an alert had been issued about an armed robbery that occurred a few days before the shooting. But while this audio may document that a police officer thought Castile might have resembled a person wanted for armed robbery, that didn't mean he was a "suspect" in an armed robbery case or that he was "wanted" for armed robbery — at the time he was killed, nothing linked him to such a crime other than that an officer momentarily thought Castile might have looked a little like someone who had committed a robbery. The Conservative Treehouse took their shaky narrative a step further, however, and attempted to show that not only was Castile a suspect in an armed robbery case, but he was likely the man who committed the crime. The evidence provided, however, was flimsy at best: The Conservative Treehouse claimed that the image on the left of the above-displayed graphic shows a gun on Castile's hip. While most viewers have a hard time even identifying the object seen in this picture, Conservative Treehouse boldly speculated that it was the very same weapon used in the armed robbery pictured on the right: This hand gun also appears to be the same type of hand gun used in the Convenience Store Armed robbery four days earlier (7/2/16): This is a far-fetched if not outright false claim. The object pictured on the left of the above-displayed image can hardly be identified as a gun, let alone a specific make and model of gun that can be matched to a blurry a picture of a robbery. The web site also attempted to prove that Castile was involved in the armed robbery by connecting an image of Diamond Reynolds holding a pack of Newport cigarettes with a news story stating that an armed robber stole cartons of the same brand of cigarettes: According to a press release from the St. Anthony Police Department, which contracts for police service in Lauderdale, the two robbed the Super USA store in the 2400 block of Larpenteur Avenue around 7:30 p.m., taking cash from the register and cartons of Newport cigarettes. Of course, the fact that Reynolds was seen holding the same brand of cigarettes that were stolen days prior to her boyfriend's death is hardly proof of anything. The Newport brand represents more than 10% of the market share for cigarettes, according to the CDC, which consisted of more than 40 million smokersin 2014. This is a trivial detail at best and a coincidence at worst. The Convservative Treehouse article also perpetuated the rumor that Castile was illegally carrying a firearm: The above-displayed tweet is real and Conservative Treehouse actually did provide some context for the message. However, they also incorrectly concluded that there was no factual evidence that Castile had a carry permit: According to a question presented to the local county sheriff who oversees the Concealed Carry Permit process, Mr. Castile had never requested a concealed carry permit (CCCP) from their office: It is possible a CCP was obtained in another county, however the media are conflating “permit to purchase” with “concealed carry permit”. For some reason the CCP ownership is being amplified; it really has no bearing and is largely irrelevant for the context of the situation. That said, there is no factual evidence Mr. Philando Castile had a CCP. While this Tweet was used as proof that Castile didn't have a carry permit (Minnesota actually makes no distinction between open carry and concealed carry), the police station refuted this report on social media: The police department also linked to a Star Tribune article which had confirmed that Castile indeed had a carry permit: Philando Castile had a valid permit to carry a gun when he was shot and killed by a St. Anthony police officer, a source confirmed to the Star Tribune. In the video, Reynolds said Castile told the officer, Jeronimo Yanez, that he had a permit and was carrying a gun. Yanez shot Castile multiple times. “He’s licensed to carry, he was trying to get his ID, his wallet out of his pocket and he let the officer knew he had a firearm and was reaching for his wallet,” Reynolds said in the video as a bloodied Castile lay in the driver’s seat dying. Although the names of gun permit holders are not public under state law, a source confirmed Castile was issued the permit when he lived in Robbinsdale. The Conservative Treehouse article employed a series of half-truths, misleading claims, and unsupported speculation in an attempt to justify the fatal force used by an officer during a traffic stop in Minnesota. No real evidence has yet come to light supporting the notion that Castile had been involved in an armed robbery or was carrying a firearm illegally when he was killed.
I can't help but feel like I need to apologize for my late night rant. I still think the media intentionally tries to fuel the fire, but that is no excuse for taking second hand information, claiming it as fact, and ranting about it on the internet after a few too many glasses of local wine. I agree the country is going to hell, and the emotional spreading of bad information is definitely part of it. I should have verified what I heard, especially in such a sensitive situation. Again, I apologize.
Hahahahaha. I thought that might be the case. As I have stated to the point of being obnoxious, when something doesn't seem to make sense, for example: a "2 'kilotron' bomb" to be detonated by a button conveniently installed in, or located on the 'door of a car' by a driver with a concealed carry permit and a small child in the back seat, it probably doesn't make sense. Either the cop is lying -- high probability -- or someone embellished the story and posted it on the internet -- even higher probability. Without a video recording with voice, I am not going to believe this. The cop goes to prison, if I'm on that jury.
Let's hope the rest of the jury isn't as emotional and biased as you are and would instead pay attention to the actual evidence. You have no basis to have any opinion yet. You have no idea whatsoever what transpired.
Apparently Mr. Castile was not unfamiliar with being pulling over by the police. This is from the AP, not some right wing blog. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When Philando Castile saw the flashing lights in his rearview mirror the night he got shot, it wasn't unusual. He had been pulled over at least 52 times in recent years in and around the Twin Cities and given citations for minor offenses including speeding, driving without a muffler and not wearing a seat belt. He was assessed at least $6,588 in fines and fees, although more than half of the total 86 violations were dismissed, court records show. So lets do some reasoning here and try to get in the cops head. He has pulled over someone who he knows has had numerous violations. Castile also did fit a description of a person being suspected of armed robbery, which we now know was not Castile. This gives us a pretty good idea of the cops state of mind as he approached the vehicle. Safe to say he was on edge. The fact that he was knowingly going into a potentially dangerous situation in not a good defense for shooting the guy. That's the job and if a person can't handle that type of stress, then go do something else. Cops are not drafted. They're all volunteers. Further, I don't want to hear about the split second decisions. I don't give a shit about that. Again, that's the job and if you can't handle that, quit. If, and I say if, this is all that happened, this cop is guilty and needs to be sent to prison. Yeah, it's a tough break and yeah he may have only had a second to make his decision. That's the deal and once again, either you can keep your head in that situation or you can't. You want all the honor and glory of being a police officer, not to mention all the authority, then we're holding you to a higher standard. And that, as they say, is that.
Your absolutely correct, and if you pay attention to the complete context in which I made those silly remarks you would recognize that it is within the silly context of whats been reported on the internet and repeated in this forum. Of course no sane person would judge a killer on the basis of such unreliable information. All we really know at this point is that a cop plugged a guy approximately five times. I hope for the cop's sake he has a good reason that he can prove in court. Otherwise, if I'm on that jury, he's going to the big house.
Your ramblings simply remind people that you are extremely ignorant. A good working example of why America is declining. Your ideas are ridiculous, but somehow in that twisted undeveloped mind of yours you think they make sense despite the overwhelming real world evidence to the contrary. You are the new religion, a kind of vocal priest of stupidity on the internet.
I've had TsingTao on ignore for months now. I have to admit, when I saw the story about a Florida guy who accidentally shot his teenage son to death at a shooting range, I thought of him.
That would explain why he is somehow tamed and stays away these days. Before he would always have been the second poster in any gun related thread...