“I’m not pulling it out.” –– These are the last words of Philando Castile before being murdered.
Anyone who knows me knows I respect our police. Their job is to ensure the safety of our communities whether or not that means putting themselves in danger to protect the average civilian.
Over the last few years, controversial arrests have captivated the media and the country. Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, the list goes on. These names have become household names. When I say "Blue Lives Matter," I think back to cases like Michael Brown, where, based on the evidence and court rulings, the officer was justified.
When protests erupted, they quickly turned to violent riots and were shameful. People were tearing apart and looting their own communities. Any mature, rational thinking adult would know that violence gets you nowhere, that looting your communities and setting fires does nothing but make you look like ignorant trash, so when all of this was going on I was a firm Blue Lives Matter advocate.
Furthermore, these violent protests do nothing but distract the nation from the central issue because we’re so captivated by the utter destruction that these protesters have caused that no one cares why these people are protesting, we just care how they’re protesting. I still am a Blue Lives Matter supporter, but this week I’m disgusted.
Philando Castile, that name should be etched in all of our minds. During what should’ve been a routine traffic stop Castile was murdered by an officer. After being asked for his license and registration, Castile alerted the officer that he did have a weapon in his pocket where his license was, and that in order to get his license he would have to put his hand into his pocket.
No more than five seconds later and he had been shot multiple times. If you watch the dash cam video that had been released you’ll hear Castile respectfully alerting the officer followed by the officer drawing his weapon and immediately firing.
Okay, just for starters, if Castile was violent and a "threat" why would he tell the officer he had a weapon in the first place? If he had intentions of shooting the officer, he wouldn't have complied with the officer's wishes and instead of pulling out his license pulled out his gun instead. He did the right thing. He did what anyone who has a legal gun is supposed to do –– alert the officer from the start.
What did he do wrong?
He was a licensed gun owner. Where is outrage from the NRA? I love the NRA, my parents are members and I respect their mission. As a licensed gun owner who alerted the policemen to his weapon, the NRA should be outraged that this officer was found not guilty. What’s the point of being able to have a gun if doing so legally will still get you killed by an officer? The NRA should be ashamed of their lack of action.
Rightfully, they should be protesting with Castile’s family.
Like I said, I don’t believe in riots at all, and I believe that protests like the ones for Michael Brown were uncalled for. However, Philando Castile’s death deserves one hell of a protest. That man lost his life because a cop was evidently not trained enough on how to handle a legal gun owner alerting him to his weapon.
That cop deserved to be found guilty, which wouldn’t even be a fraction of the suffering that Castile’s family will have to live with for the rest of their lives. He was dead wrong, there is no other way around it. The members of that jury should be ashamed of themselves. I truly hope that Castile’s family sues that police department or Officer Yanez.
Police officers all across this nation should be condemning Yanez. Yanez knew he was wrong, you could hear it in his voice right after he shot Castile. If he knew he was wrong how the hell did the jury not concur? If police officers are meant to promote the general welfare in our communities then this should be an outrage.
Blue Lives still do matter, all lives matter, and Philando Castile’s life mattered. You’d think after Eric Garner and Sandra Bland, other officers would get the idea, but nope. This isn’t about race, this is about morals, ethics, and basic human decency.
Our justice system has failed us, all of us.
Blue Lives matter because the majority of cops are good, honest people who do their job the way we want it done, who go above and beyond to take care of their communities. People forget that.
People forget that there are cops who don’t jump the gun and shoot someone for no reason during a traffic stop, that there are cops who buy groceries for families who can’t afford them, or cops that let tickets slide because the person was genuinely sorry for what they did. Maybe if cops like Yanez were held responsible for taking a life people wouldn’t be chanting "pigs in a blanket fry ‘em like bacon."
Our officers need to be held accountable for taking a life. This isn’t about race, I don’t care if you’re black, white, Hispanic, or Asian-instances like this are disgusting and appalling. These officers should be held accountable for their disgraceful actions, not because the victim was black.
Shame on our justice system.