Protesters demand prosecution of Philando Castile’s killer
St. Paul, MN – At noon, July 15, The Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar and Asian Pacific Islanders for Black Lives protested at the office of Ramsey County Attorney John Choi here. He is the county attorney who will make the charging decision in the homicide of Philando Castile.
A coalition statement said, “For 22 consecutive Fridays, the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar has protested at the Hennepin County Government Center, where Mike Freeman has his office. The Coalition continues to demand prosecution of the police that killed Jamar Clark last November. This week, the protest will move to Saint Paul, to call for justice for Philando Castile.”
“While the fight for justice for Jamar continues, the recent killing of another African American man in our community calls us to bring our voices to the doorstep of Ramsey County prosecutor John Choi. We don't want his murder covered up with a secret grand jury process, and we won't sit by and let Choi try to justify the actions of Jeronimo Yanez, who fired four times into a car with a young child and two adults, killing Philando,” the statement continued.
Choi refused to come out to meet with the 40 angry people crowded into his office. Protestors confronted his staff with their demands. Speakers included Coalition organizers Michaela Day and Loretta VanPelt, MK Nguyen of API4BlackLives and Darleen Hynes, whose fiancée, Phil Quinn, was murdered by Saint Paul police in September 2015. Choi took that case to a grand jury, which failed to indict the killer cop. The protesters promised to return.
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