Six months after a St. Anthony officer shot and killed Philando Castile during a Falcon Heights traffic stop, area residents told the U.S. Justice Department they’re determined to purge racism from their police department and local government.
But many said they can’t wait for justice.
More than 100 people came Monday evening to the first in a series of meetings the Justice Department is hosting in the three communities served by the St. Anthony Police Department. Audience members spoke with the same, if not heightened, passion they had during the first community meetings after the July 6 shooting.
After an hour and a half of testimony, a white Minneapolis teen who goes to school in St. Paul and to the mall in Roseville put the group’s frustration in stark terms:
“Be lucky that we’re still coming to these,” Davina Newman said to meeting organizers. “It’s when we stop coming that you should be scared. … It’s time for change. If the people in power aren’t ready, we’re ready to replace you.”
St. Anthony police officer Geronimo Yanez stands accused of manslaughter for Castile’s shooting, and while speakers said they were pleased with the charges, many said there was nothing stopping a similar shooting from happening again.
John Thompson, a friend of Castile’s who worked with him in a St. Paul school cafeteria, started his comments wearing a cafeteria jacket and hairnet. He said if Castile had been wearing the same uniform when he was stopped that night, he might still be alive. But he died because, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, he looked like a menace, Thompson said.
He said he relived the fear this weekend when he was pulled over and informed that his turn signal was broken. Rather than a friendly warning, he got a ticket, and a scare.
“They are terrorizing us,” Thompson said of the police. “I am in fear for my life.”
Mike Wade said that when he moved to town eight years ago he was warned by white friends to be careful of “DWB,” or driving while black. He said the fact that his white friends knew of the situation told him that it must be common knowledge among many people.
“It tells me there are a lot of people comfortable with how the status quo is,” Wade said. “That’s not OK when I’m your neighbor.”
Kate O’Connell, a white Falcon Heights resident, said she’s only become aware in the past few years how the status quo is for her black neighbors.
“I started to learn that I have privilege,” O’Connell said. “Isn’t everyone treated the way I’m treated? That’s not the case.”
The DOJ’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services is holding similar meetings at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the St. Anthony Village High School Auditorium and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Lauderdale City Hall.
The meetings are meant to give the COPS office some idea of public sentiment as it begins a review of the St. Anthony Police Department. The office will be assessing the police department’s public interactions, hiring practices and any patterns revealed in stop and arrest data. At the end of the review, the COPS office will help the police department implement changes to improve its service to the community.
The review is being conducted at the request of the St. Anthony Police Department and its recommendations are not binding, a detail that troubled several speakers Monday.
Thompson, speaking a second time backed by a small group from Black Lives Matter-St. Paul, told Justice Department officials, “The truth don’t need no help.”
“We don’t need you,” Thompson said. “Philando was killed on camera. We can’t wait on the Department of Justice no more. If you want to help, help. Otherwise, move out of the way.”