Five Things You Should Know About The Immigrant Officer Who Killed Philando Castile

Officer Jeronimo Yanez

By NAN Staff Writer

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. July 13, 2016: Despite all the talk about white on black shootings when it comes to police, the reality is that the shooting to death of Minnesota resident Philando Castile on July 6, 2016 was done by an immigrant officer. Here are five things you should know about this cop:

1: He is Jeronimo Yanez, a Latino officer born in Mexico who was attached to the St. Anthony police department in the Twin Cities suburbs for the past four years. He received a degree in enforcement in 2010 from Minnesota State University at Mankato, where they he was named among the top of his class, earning the Baton of Honor award and graduating magna cum laude.

2: Yanez’s position with the department was his first and at 28, he has no disciplinary actions in his employee file at the department, and court records show he has not faced any civil lawsuits.

Officer Jeronimo Yanez with one of his professors at graduation in 2010.

3: Officer Yanez has a wife and young child and was part of a special crime prevention community policing unit and helping the public with bike safety. He is a member of the Minnesota chapter of the National Latino Peace Officers Association where he worked to connect with Latino youth.

4: Yanez and his partner Joseph Kauser reportedly pulled over Castile for a broken taillight in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights and because, according to reports, he hit the profile of a fitting the profile from the armed robbery July 2nd. His lawyer, Thomas Kelly, insists that Yanez, only fired as a result of “the presence of that gun and the display of that gun” on the lap of Philando Castile rather than any other factor. Castile, 32, was shot five times.

His girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, soon began broadcasting the final moments of his life on Facebook as her 4-year-old daughter sat in the back seat. Reynolds said that Castile had told the officers during the stop that he had a gun with him that, according to family members, he had a permit for. I told him not to reach for it!” Yanez can be heard shouting in the video. “I told him to get his hands up. I told him not to reach for it,” before yelling “f*ck.”

Reynolds responded, “He was just getting his license and registration, sir.”

The Hennepin County medical examiner announced that Castile’s death has been ruled a homicide, and in a statement, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension announced that the incident is under investigation.

5: Both Yanez and Kauser, who was also present during the shooting, have been placed on administrative leave. Officer Yanez, according to his lawyer, is deeply saddened for the family and loved ones of Castile.