HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017 06-14 A waiting game as jury weighs Yanez's fate MPRM PR IIIIIIII'� ""'
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Daily dispatches: The trial of officer Jeronimo Yanez
In July 2016, St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights,
Minn., a St. Paul suburb. The world watched the aftermath, live on Facebook. Yanez faces second-degree manslaughter and
firearms charges in the case. � Dailv disuatches from the courthouse � Full coverage and podcast
Day 12 � A waiting game as jury weighs Yanez's fate
Wednesday, June �4, 20��
Updated 1 p.m. � Posted i2:o6 a.m.
Jon Collins � MPR News
St. Paul -- As jury deliberation in the trial of St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez moved into its
third day Wednesday, family and friends of Philando Castile waited nervously for a verdict, and law
enforcement prepared for the possibility of demonstrations.
Yanez is charged in the traffic-stop shooting death of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights on July 6. He
faces charges of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm. Castile's
girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her 4-year-old daughter were in the car at the time of the shooting.
Activists from a number of groups have called for a demonstration on the evening the verdict is
announced. But they're following the lead of Castile's family, led by his mother, Valerie Castile, said Pastor
Danny Givens, a minister and clergy liaison to Black Lives Matter Minneapolis.
74 Seconds podcast latest episode: Waiting for a verdict
"The most important thing that's going to happen after this verdict, whichever way it goes, is that we're
first and foremost going to wrap our arms around Valerie Castile and her family," Givens said. "Sefore we
move and do anything in this community on behalf of her family, we have got to be sure that we move and
have action for them."
Some police departments in the area have started to prepare for the possibility of protests. While there
have been no protest� during the trial, several demonstrations cropped up around�hE� Twin Cities last
summer after Castile' � dea���i��l�� jr�t������v&�c����ey rr'�arched in the
streets. They took ovE,r a Falcon Heights city courl�j�'�ting. There was a children's rr;narch. And Castile's
family handed out cu�,�cakes at a street f�ff�btad��r�h� ���have been his 33rrr,� birthday.
The gatherings were l,argely peaceful, but they weDC�NgT�treets had to be shut down. ,Crowds had to be
managed. One turned violent when protesters marched onto Interstate 94 in St. Paul, So police are
preparing.
"Out of an abundance of concern, law enforcement agencies are beginning to develop, and in some
instances finalize, plans for civil unrest following the trial," then-Maplewood Police Chief Paul Schnell
wrote in a memo last month.
Maplewood officers were instructed not to ask for time off around the trial. Every officer needed to be
fitted for gas masks, said Schnell, who has since retired.
In St. Paul, police Cmdr. Josh Lego said his newly formed special operations unit is designed to respond
differently to protests. Most demonstrations, he said, are exercises in free speech and not a danger to the
public.
"How we deal with it is in a layered response," Lego said, "to not consider every assembly a nail that we
always bring a hammer to, that's not what we're after."
St. Anthony Police Chief Jon Mangseth, Yanez's boss, said his department will be ready to assist other
agencies if needed.
"I don't know what to anticipate following the trial or during the trial. We have to be ready in case
something happens," Mangseth said. "We have to be in constant communication with our partners in our
county level."
Outside the courthouse on Tuesday afternoon, Castile's friend John Thompson waited nervously for a
verdict. "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst," Thompson said. "What happened to Philando was a
crime, it was a crime, so if he's not found guilty of a crime, then this is a crime in this courthouse."
Jurors were scheduled to deliberate between until as late as 4:3o p.m. Wednesday. They need to decide on
the verdict unanimously.
MPR News reporter Tracy Mumford contributed to this report.
The trial: What vou need to know
Who's who in the trial of Jeronimo Yanez
Full coverage: The death of Philando Castile and the trial of Jeronimo Yanez
by Meg Martin, MPR News edited by Paul Tosto, MPR News 6/14/2017 5:06:15 AM 12:06 AM yesterday
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