Philando Castile May Have Been Pulled Over Because Police Thought He Looked Like a Robbery Suspect
When Philando Castile was pulled over Wednesday night by officers Jeronimo Yanez and Joseph Kauser, purportedly for a broken tail light according to the video account of the aftermath of his being shot and killed by Yanez made by passenger Diamond Reynolds, the officers' real reason for wanting to pull them over and check I.D.s is because they thought he was a robbery suspect, according to scanner audio obtained by KARE 11 NBC TV in Minneapolis.
The station did verify the license plate mentioned was that of the car Castile was driving, and the "locations mentioned also correspond" to the stop. They did not get police to authoritatively state that it was indeed scanner audio preceding the incident.
An officer says "I'm going to stop a car and check I.D.s. I have reason to pull it over, the two occupants just look like people that were involved in a robbery. The driver looks more like one of our suspects just 'cause of the wide-set nose." A minute and a half later, "shots fired" is said on the audio.
KARE could identify only this, from July 2, as a near-in-time robbery that St. Anthony police might have been investigating.
KARE also said in another story that it has sources that have confirmed that Castile did have a carry permit issued by Hennepin County, though permits in Minnesota are not matters of public record.
Hat tip: I found the newsclip originally at Rare.