Church worship director Sarah Witte-Jacobs went to high school with St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez and remembered him as a Latino kid trying to fit in at a predominantly white high school.
“Jeronimo, when I knew him, was worried about passing exams, not strapping a gun to his holster,” said Witte-Jacobs on Tuesday, addressing the St. Anthony Village City Council. “What happened in those 10 years … that has made it OK to pull over a man for ‘having a wide-set nose’?”
The officer-involved shooting death of school kitchen supervisor Philando Castile at a July 6 traffic stop continued to reverberate Tuesday in St. Anthony Village, where residents have sought to bring concerns about racial bias into the spotlight.
Under a contract, the St. Anthony Police Department patrols neighboring Falcon Heights, where Castile was shot by Yanez multiple times. The police officer had told dispatchers Castile’s “wide-set nose” resembled that of a robbery suspect. The shooting aftermath was live-streamed by Castile’s girlfriend on a cellphone video that went viral.
In a heavily attended open comment session, more than a dozen residents, some in tears, asked the city council to do more community outreach and engage the city in discussion about Castile’s death. The shooting remains under investigation by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Among other recommendations, speakers asked the council to reopen the search for a police chief, establish a Human Rights Commission, convene community listening sessions, incorporate mental health crisis training for police and improve public communication and outreach.
They questioned why the council canceled a scheduled council meeting following Castile’s death, which would have provided opportunity for open discussion, and why city officials made the decision behind closed doors to cancel a parade at the upcoming VillageFest celebration on Aug. 6.
“I cannot bear the thought of someone’s black child growing up afraid of our police,” said Rossi Bistodeau Cannon, a founding member of the Facebook page “St. Anthony Villagers for Community Action.”
The Facebook page had more than 200 members as of Tuesday night.
“We’ve been here 18 years. I absolutely love the village. I coach. I volunteer,” said Robert Jones, one of two African-American men to take the microphone. “I love this community. But the death of Philando really did burst that bubble and brought it all crashing back.”
“I’m here to tell you that I have that fear,” Jones continued. “I live that fear everyday. I make a conscious decision about what I wear, what route I take. And I make that decision because I don’t want to end up like that young man.”
Another young man said he was once arrested by police in the area and accused of stealing his own vehicle. He urged the council to create a youth congress, similar to those in other nearby cities, and adopt implicit bias training for officers.
Residents said the predominantly white city of fewer than 9,000 residents has created few, if any, opportunities to discuss racial disparities or racial bias in policing. They encouraged the mayor and four council members to institute immediate changes.
Speakers said it had taken too long to get a racial breakdown of traffic stops and arrests conducted by the department.
“We’ve sat on data that indicate our police department is showing disturbing trends on police profiling,” said resident Kate Martin. “It’s clear that I, and we as a village, have failed in many ways.”
Council members joined Mayor Jerry Faust in calling for understanding rather than instant results. “All of our officers have college degrees … (they’ve) been through the de-escalation training,” said Faust, who called insinuations that traffic stops help raise revenue for the city are misguided. He suggested assembling a working group to examine issues in policing.
“I don’t know what it’s like to be pulled over for the color of my skin,” said council member Hal Gray, who encouraged the audience to continue to attend meetings and participate in citizens’ police academies, which are often canceled for lack of public interest. “I think we all need to look at ourselves and think, what are my biases? … And that’s not something I have just asked myself since July 6. I hope that people come to every council meeting. Hold us accountable.”
Council member Bonnie Brever said her parents died in a car accident 30 years ago. “This brought back that same tragic feeling,” said Brever, her voice breaking. “I’m a product of white privilege. I grew up in a small town. But when I got married, we adopted a Korean girl, and in one month she’s going to marry a black man.” She regularly worries for his safety, she said.
“We will take a look at the suggestions — there’s a lot of good ones,” council member Randy Stille said. “And we will evaluate. Some of that is going to take a little time. … We will do better. And we will do good.”