ST.PAUL - The uncle of Philando Castile told KARE 11 the police scanner audio we obtained is an example of racial profiling.
A KARE 11 viewer, who gave us audio clips of police radio traffic, claims they captured the moments just before Philando Castile and his girlfriend were stopped by St. Anthony police – which ended with police fatally shooting Castile.
KARE 11 has attempted to confirm the authenticity of the recording with police officials, but so far they have not responded.
We have verified that the license plate mentioned by police in the recording matches the plate of the car Castile was driving. The location the officer gives also corresponds to the locations of the traffic stop.
“I’m going to stop a car,” the officer says on the recording. “I’m going to check IDs. I have reason to pull it over.”
“The two occupants just look like people that were involved in a robbery,” the officer says. “The driver looks more like one of our suspects, just ‘cause of the wide set nose,” the officer continues.
Diamond Reynolds said she and her deceased boyfriend did not match the descriptions on the audio clip.
Philando Castile’s uncle, Clarence Castile, called the traffic stop an example of racial profiling.
“I just thought it was kind of insane to pull somebody over saying they matched a robbery suspect by having flared nostrils,” Clarence Castile said. “It is kind of hard to see flared nostrils from a car.
A minute and a half after the call to dispatch, the recording captures the first report that there was a shooting.
Officer: “Shots fired Larpenteur and Fry.”
Dispatch: “Copy you just heard it? … You just heard the shots fired?”
Officer: (screaming) “Code 3! Shots fired.”
Dispatch: “Copy shots fired Larpenteur and Fry. Do you need medics?”
Officer: “Code 3!”
Dispatch: “Copy. Medics -- code 3 to Larpenteur and Fry.”
Officer: “One adult female taken into custody. Driver at gunpoint.”
It’s unclear which robbery the officer was referring to when he said Mr. Castile looked like a suspect. But the BCA had sent out a press release earlier this week saying St. Anthony police were investigating a gas station robbery that occurred in nearby Lauderdale on July 2.
Clarence Castile said the family will hire someone to conduct an independent investigation.
“That is what is next. That is what is next. So we can get an unbiased account of what happened step by step. Dash board cams. Audio or video the police may have in their possession,” Clarence Castile said. “We have to get my nephew buried and laid to rest in a good and honorable way. And after that, that is when the fight begins. That is when we are going to start working to get serious justice.”
