Protesters: Officer in Castile shooting should remain on leave
About two dozen demonstrators gathered outside the St. Anthony Police Department Friday to protest Officer Jeronimo Yanez's return to desk duties.
Yanez fatally shot Philando Castile last month during a traffic stop. The aftermath of the shooting with a bloodied Castile, strapped in his seatbelt behind the wheel, was live-streamed on social media.
The shooting sparked multiple protests and an encampment outside Gov. Mark Dayton's residence. Protesters on Friday stood outside the St. Anthony City Hall and Police Department holding signs that read "Put Yanez behind bars not a desk," "Fire Yanez" and "Skin doesn't come off, uniforms do."
Jacob Ladda, an activist and one of the organizers of the protest said authorities shouldn't have allowed Yanez to go back to work.
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"We've had so much communication to come to this point where Yanez is back at work, that's disrespectful to the people," Ladda said. "If you respect the people that would not happen. This would not be. We would not be here. Once again, the people do not want to be here, they don't want to sleep 20 days outside of a governor's mansion, they want their justice and they want it now."
St. Anthony Police Chief Jon Mangseth told the Associated Press Yanez is a level-headed member of the force with an ability to communicate and relate to people.
Megan McLaughlin is a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. She said the Castile shooting is troubling enough to keep Yanez on administrative leave.
"I would not say this is a horrible officer necessarily," she said. "But the whole system is set up so that officers are afraid, they go into situations afraid when they don't need to be."
Protesters plan to join others at an anti-Trump rally in downtown Minneapolis Friday evening.