Police Unions Call For Dayton To Apologize Over Castile Comments

BY CBS Minnesota

July 12, 2016

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Several police unions in Minnesota are demanding that Gov. Mark Dayton retract and apologize for his statement last week that Philando Castile likely wouldn’t have been shot and killed by a police officer if he were white.

The heads of the police unions for Minneapolis, St. Paul, the State Patrol, and Law Enforcement Labor Services put out a joint statement Tuesday, saying the governor’s comments fueled unrest and led, at least in part, to 21 officers being hurt over the weekend in the protest on Interstate 94.

“All Americans are entitled to due process, including officers who are involved in critical incidents that lead to loss of life,” the statement read. “The governor’s comments cast judgment on law enforcement and deepen mistrust between officers and the communities they serve. His remarks concerning Philando Castile’s race as the motive for a traffic stop were premature at best, and as the violence of Saturday’s unlawful protest on I-94 demonstrates, reckless at worst.”

During the protest on I-94, bottles, rocks and firecrackers were thrown at officers. In the aftermath of the protest, which shut down the freeway in St. Paul for more than four hours Saturday night, 102 people were arrested. As of Monday, 46 were charged with third-degree riot.

Following the protest, the governor issued a statement calling the protest “unlawful and extremely dangerous.” He also praised the officers for their “heroic efforts” and professionalism.

His comments on the Castile shooting came a day after it happened in Falcon Heights, a suburb of St. Paul. The victim’s girlfriend live-streamed the aftermath of the shooting on Facebook, and the graphic video captured international attention. The governor said he was “deeply offended” by the video and that the police response in this case was “way over” what was called for.

The officer who fired the shots was Jeronimo Yanez of the St. Anthony Police Department. His lawyer says he reacted not to Castile’s race, but to the gun he was carrying.

Just as the police unions in the Twin Cities have called for Dayton to apologize for his racial comments on the Castile shooting, other national police leaders have said the governor exploited a tragic situation.