https://www.rt.com/usa/349805-philando-castile-police-killing/

It was a while since any cop shootings caught my eye. However, I thought the two recent ones in the past 24 hours caught my eye. In case you have some sort of hatred against RT, here's a nonbiased explanation of what happened:

Philando Castile and his family were driving in Hennepin County, Minnesota. They were pulled over for having a broken tail light. 

things were quite normal. The officer asked for Philando to pull out his license. As Philando was doing so, he informed the officer that he was legally allowed to hold a gun.

The officer then panics. Reynolds, Philando's girlfriend, says that the officer panicked and soon shot her boyfriend 4 times. 

After a bit, several other officers come. They take Reynolds and her daughter out of the car. Once Reynolds recovers her phone, she explains the outcome of this incident. Her husband is now dead. However, the story is currently circulating the internet. The BCA(Bureau of Criminal Apprehension) is currently conducting an investigation. They have currently learned that the victim, Philando, never had a gun to begin with.

A lot of things to get out of this. 

1) Why did Philando mention that he's legally able to possess a gun if he didn't have a gun in the first place? 

It seems rather strange he did so in the first place. I don't think the police officer would have panicked if he didn't mention anything about the gun.

2) The officer is clearly inexperienced

To see him be trembling like that and mishandle the situation, it's quite clear that this officer is either inexperienced or very flawed in nature. It could have been dealt with in a better manner. If the officer starts panicking at anyone mentioning a gun, I don't think he's fit for the job.

3) Race shouldn't be focused on only. 

While race could have played a bias in the situation, the larger issue at hand is the irresponsible behaviour of policemen(not all, but some). Police departments seriously need to take these events into consideration and teach policemen how to handle real life scenarios much better.

4) Oh boy, the protests will be interesting

As a Minnesotan, I'll tell you this- people don't simply carry posters and stand around. No. Black Lives Matter activists have blocked the i-94 highway(biggest highway in Minnesota), took over part of an airport, and even shut down the Mall of America- twice. People, the mall of America is 4.87 million square feet. Just take that into consideration

  Whether I agree with the actions of BLM or not doesn't make the difference. People will do as they please. I wonder if they'll block another highway once again.

5) Four shots, wowzers

When would that be reasonable? Was the officer scared the dude would rise from the dead and try to kill the officer? In no situation would I see him firing four shots be acceptable. He should've:

a) Only fired one shot

b) Aim at non-fatal areas. Many deaths can be prevents if people shoot in the leg. Then again, I'm sure someone with knowledge on guns can probably counterargue this.

6) I wonder what the race of the officer is

If he's white, oh boy. Might as well hide before twitter explodes. 

7) Harsher penalties need to be given for inappropriate behaviour that results in the life of a person

Police officers shouldn't be off the hook for killing people. If their actions lead to a death that shouldn't have happened, they shouldn't be exempt from any consequences whatsoever. 

I don't like to hate on police men, I realize the job isn't easy. However,  if people who are clearly not fit for the job manage to become police officers, then perhaps we need to fix our system. Prevent people with high anxiety from joining police forces. Check mental stability and whatnot. We can't continue to see events such as this and say there's nothing wrong.

All in all, it's quite saddening. Hoping the best for the family. 

EDIT: https://www.facebook.com/looneylyrics2/posts/984131438371048  the video is in both the original link and this facebook link. Credit to S.T.A.G.E for mentioning it and shenlong123 giving the link

If he didn't have a gun, why on earth would he tell the police officer that he did?

I am seriously wondering that. Did it have any relevance to the incident? is there some sort of context that we're missing.

I hope the cop had body cameras. Would like to see the entire incident.

I saw the live feed his girlfriend put up on Facebook. The cop freaked the fuck out and kept trying to tell himself that the guy was reaching for his gun. He wasn't though even though the cop was informed of his legal ability to have open carry. Imagine having to calm the man down who is pointing a gun at your loved one they shot while they are dying. All of this for a traffic stop. Dude was just getting his wallet to give it to the cop.

Link? I need to see this.

Do you still have the link?

It'd be worth adding the link to the original post. Of course, I'll give credit to you.

https://www.facebook.com/looneylyrics2/posts/984131438371048

The video is not for everyone

**Viewers Discretion Advised **

Wow. What the fuck is wrong with that cop? Must be completely mentally unstable. 

Sure, it's weird to say you have the right to carry a gun when you don't have one but assuming he did carry one isn't that something you should inform the officer about? So the outcome would had been the same in both situations. 

I hope that sick fuck goes to jail for this. There's simply no excuse for doing what he did.

Sad situation. Simple fact is, the guy mentioned gun, cop thought he was reaching and then fired the shots. Totally unavoidable if the guy didn't mention the gun.

This is one reason that, even if I were a cop myself, I'd be completely in favor of mandatory bodycams for cops. I don't understand the reluctance; they can both show guilt or exonerate, and lord knows cops have both gotten off when they didn't deserve to and been raked over the coals when they followed the book.