Valerie Castile, mother of Philando Castile, speaks about her son's life, death, and legacy during a press conference on the five-year anniversary of his death in St. Paul on Tuesday.
Evan Frost | MPR News
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Good morning,
Today is Wednesday, July 7.
As protests of police shootings of Black men continue in Minnesota and beyond, Valerie Castile marked five years since her son Philando’s death. A St. Anthony police officer shot and killed the St. Paul man during a traffic stop for a broken taillight in 2016.
Castile, 32, worked in the cafeteria at J.J. Hill Elementary School in St. Paul, the same school district he attended.
During the traffic stop, Castile, who had a permit to carry, said there was a weapon in the car. Seconds later, officer Jeronimo Yanez shot seven times, striking Castile five times. There was a woman in the passenger seat and a young child in the back seat. Prosecutors and the family said Castile was complying with Yanez’s demands.
“It just breaks my heart. He was such a good man, a caring man and a loving man,” said Valerie Castile.
Valerie Castile is an active member in a group of families, mostly mothers, whose lives have been shattered by police violence. They spoke outside the Governor’s Residence in St. Paul Tuesday.
“I didn't want to meet these people. Not under these circumstances. Not under these circumstances,” Castile said. “But I know them now. And we have a bond, an unbreakable bond and it's an ugly bond.” | |
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From left: Nicole Matthews, executive director of Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition, Patina Park, president and CEO of the Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center and Rep. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton — all members of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's Task Force that recommended the state create an office to address violence against Native women. | Nina Moini 2020 |
Native American women make up less than 1 percent of the state's population, but Native women are the victims of violence and homicide at much higher rates than the rest of the population. A task force recommended the state form a board to address the issue, and that's becoming a reality.
Minnesota is the first in the nation to have a state office with this focus. State Sen. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton, is one person behind this effort.
"We think about our ancestors — there are so many of us. I'm sure every one of us have a family story to tell," she said.
The office will collect and share data, collaborate with other government age and create legislation to "address those systemic issues that we know attributed to the vulnerability of Native women and other groups as well," Kunesh said.
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Darnella Frazier, the teen who recorded the police killing of George Floyd, said her uncle was the innocent driver killed in a crash during a police chase early Tuesday in Minneapolis.
"Another black man lost his life in the hands of the police!" Frazier wrote in a Facebook post identifying Leneal Lamont Frazier, and questioned why police were involved in a high-speed chase on a residential road. "Minneapolis police has cost my whole family a big loss...today has been a day full of heartbreak and sadness."
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A male elk stands in a field. Courtesy of Mike Schrage, Fond du lac Resource Management
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| Two happenings and the weather |
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Popular cave tours at the Forestville Mystery Cave State Park are back after being shut down for more than a year. The Minnesota DNR says the one-hour tours are popular, with pools and cave formations like stalactites and stalagmites. The park is near the Iowa state line and also has camping, hiking, horseback trails and trout streams.
And, Minnesota Fringe, which produces the summer theater festival, is partnering with the Minneapolis Downtown Council on a series of outdoor performances called "Beyond the Box." The 10-20 minute shows are June through September all over Nicollet Avenue.
Wednesday stays cool and turns drier Behind Tuesday’s storm system, all of Minnesota sees a day of below average temperatures, which has not happened often during what has been a very hot summer so far. Some morning temperatures are over 20 degrees cooler than Tuesday. | | |
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