The dash cam video that captured the fatal interaction between officer Jeronimo Yanez and Philando Castile was made public yesterday.
In the video, the 29-year-old officer can be seen approaching the driver’s side of the vehicle and explaining to Castile that the reason he pulled him over was because his break lights weren’t working. Castile then proceeds to tell Yanez that he has a firearm on him, at which point Yanez’s arm moves towards his sidepiece. Yanez clearly instructs Castile not to pull out the weapon, and while we can’t see what takes place in the vehicle, moments later Yanez draws his service weapon and fires seven shots into the vehicle.
You can see the video below. Warning, the below video may not be suitable for all audiences.
Jury Viewed Footage During Trial
The footage was one of several critical pieces of evidence that was made public by the Minnesota Bureau of criminal Apprehension on Tuesday. In addition to the footage, the BCA released an audio file of the interview Yanez gave agents on the day of the shooting. In the recording, Yanez initially told investigators that he was blocked from seeing where Castile was reaching after he told him he was carrying a firearm.
“It appeared to me that he was wrapping something around his fingers and almost like if I were to put my uh hand around my gun like putting my hand up to the butt of the gun … and then I lost view of it,” Yanez said, according to the BCA’s transcript of the interview. “It was dark inside the vehicle. I was trying to fumble my way through under stress to look and see what it was to make sure uh what I was seeing. But I wasn’t given enough time and like I said he had no regard for what I was saying.”
Prosecutors say the recording is proof that Yanez changed his story about the events that led to the shooting, but the interview in its entirety was never introduced to the jury. You can read a transcript of Yanez’s interview with investigators here.
As we noted on Monday, Yanez was found not guilty of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm. However, Castile’s family still plans to move forward with a civil lawsuit against Yanez.
