Lawyer: Castile Matched Robbery Suspect

St. Anthony, MN – A lawyer for the police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop said the officer pulled over Castile because he was driving with a broken tail light and he believed he looked like a suspect from an armed robbery nearby.

Attorney Thomas Kelly, speaking of his client, told the Star Tribune that “All he had to have was reasonable suspicion to pull him over."

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Speaking of why the shooting took place, Kelly said the race of Castile played no role in how his client reacted.

Kelly said his client shot Castile in Falcon Heights "after he reacted to the actions of Mr. Castile."

Albert Goins, an attorney who helped Castile's family following the shooting, said that if Castile was a robbery suspect, officers should have initiated a felony traffic stop.

"A felony stop does not usually involve officers walking up to your car and asking you to produce your driver’s license,” Goins said. “A felony stop involves bringing the suspect out at gunpoint while officers are in a position of cover and having them lie on the ground until they can identify who that individual is."

Kelly's remarks about his client's motives come after protesters and government officials, including Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, suggested that race did have a factor in Castile's death.

"Would this have happened if those passengers — the driver and the passengers — were white?" Dayton asked at a press conference on Thursday. "I don’t think it would’ve."

Much of what's known about the incident comes from a Facebook Live video showing Castile bloody and dying. The video was streamed and recorded by Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds.

Castile was reaching into his pocket in response to an officer's request for his license, according to Reynolds.

Castile mentioned to the officer that he had a permit for a concealed weapon. His girlfriend's 4-year-old daughter was sitting in the back seat. The officer then opened fire, Reynolds said.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension identified the officer as Jeronimo Yanez, who fired multiple times. Yanez and Joseph Kauser, another officer at the traffic stop, were placed on paid administrative leave.