State investigators released the dashboard video of Officer Jeronimo Yanez shooting Mr. Castile in Minnesota last year that had been shown to jurors.
Days after a police officer was acquitted of all charges in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile, a black motorist in Minnesota, video of the shooting was publicly released on Tuesday for the first time.
Millions of people have seen the immediate aftermath of the shooting because Mr. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, had livestreamed it on Facebook. But few have seen video of the moments before that, when the shooting actually took place along a suburban street last year.
This video, from a dashboard camera on Officer Jeronimo Yanez ’s patrol car, parked right behind Mr. Castile’s car, was played several times this month to jurors during Officer Yanez’s manslaughter trial but had not been shown outside the courtroom.
The video reveals how a mundane conversation about a broken taillight devolved within seconds into gunfire. The newly released footage provides the fullest account yet of an episode that led to a national debate over police conduct toward black people, but it also leaves unanswered critical questions about what happened that day.
The video opens at dusk on July 6,2016, on a busy street near the Minnesota state fairgrounds. Officer Yanez is following a white Oldsmobile driven by Mr. Castile in Falcon Heights, a St. Paul suburb. When Officer Yanez turns on his flashing lights, Mr. Castile, a longtime school cafeteria worker, quickly pulls to the side and stops his car. Ms. Reynolds is in the front passenger seat, and her young daughter is in the back.
Though it is not heard on the video, Officer Yanez radioed to a colleague that he thought Mr. Castile matched the description of a robbery suspect from a few days earlier. He tells a fellow officer that Mr. Castile’s “wide-set nose” looked like the robber’s. Officer Yanez waits for the second officer to arrive before pulling Mr. Castile over, but he never mentions his robbery suspicions to Mr. Castile.
Most revealing, perhaps, about the newly released video are the voices that can be clearly heard on it — a calm, polite discussion at first, and then, in seconds, a sudden burst of tension and shots.
At first, Officer Yanez walks up to Mr. Castile’s window and tells him that his brake light is broken. The officer asks for proof of insurance and a driver’s license. Mr. Castile responds politely and hands his insurance card through the window.
Mr. Castile, who had a permit to carry a gun, then says, “Sir, I have to tell you I do have a firearm on me.”
Officer Yanez then reaches toward his holster and says, “O. K., don’ t reach for it, then.”
Mr. Castile starts to answer, but is cut off by Officer Yanez, whose voice is now raised. “Don’ t pull it out!” the officer yells.
“I’ m not pulling it out, ” Mr. Castile says, and Ms. Reynolds also tries to assure Officer Yanez that her boyfriend is not grabbing the gun.
Officer Yanez again yells, “Don’ t pull it out!” Then he fires seven shots, fatally wounding Mr. Castile. “I wasn’ t reaching, ” Mr. Castile says softly just after the gunfire stops.
In the minutes after the shooting, Officer Yanez keeps his gun pointed into the car as he calls for backup and an ambulance. He grows emotional and repeatedly yells an expletive.
The video does not show images that might have been essential for jurors to consider: a full view of the front seat of Mr. Castile’s car, which would have showed his hands — and what he was reaching for — just before the shooting.
Officer Yanez has said that Mr. Castile was reaching for his gun, and his lawyers made that a central point in his defense. Officer Yanez, who was charged with three felonies, including second-degree manslaughter, told jurors he feared for his life. But Ms. Reynolds has said that Mr. Castile was simply reaching for his driver’s license, as the officer had asked him to do.
From where the dashcam was perched, though, behind the car, the video cannot resolve this.
The footage quickly spread Tuesday afternoon after it was released by state investigators. The images drew anger, prompting responses on social media from rights activists and others.
Protesters have marched in the St. Paul area since the acquittal on Friday, calling the shooting unreasonable and evidence of racism in the justice system.
