A newly released video shows Diamond Reynolds’ young daughter’s concern for her mother’s life after St. Anthony, Minn., Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez gunned down Philando Castile—Reynolds’ boyfriend—in front of the young child.
After Castile was shot to death, another officer placed the little girl, 4, and a handcuffed Reynolds in the back of a squad car. In the new footage, Reynolds can be seen fidgeting with her phone before becoming frustrated.
“Fuck!” the mother screams.
“Ma, please stop cussing and screaming because I don’t want you to get shooted,” the little girl can be heard saying.
“OK, give me a kiss,” Reynolds responds, quieting her voice.
“My phone just died, that’s all,” Reynolds explains.
“I can keep you safe,” her daughter responds.
“It’s OK, I got it, OK?” Reynolds says. “I can’t believe they just did that.”
The little girl can be heard sobbing in the footage.
Reynolds starts to fidget again, and then says something about wishing to remove her handcuffs.
“No, please don’t! I don’t want you to get shooted!” the little girl insists.
Editor’s note: This video contains graphic footage that some may find upsetting.
“They’re not going to shoot me, OK?” Reynolds says in an attempt to calm her daughter. “I’m already in handcuffs.”
“I’m scared,” her daughter says. “Don’t take them off.”
“I wish this town was safer,” the daughter adds in between sniffles. “I don’t want it to be like this anymore.”
“Tell that to the police, OK?” Reynolds says.
The video is just the latest in the horrifying and troubling footage that has been released since Yanez killed Castile (and was later acquitted in the death). The footage, of course, started with the Facebook Live footage that Reynolds sent out in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
The dashcam footage was released earlier this week, showing Yanez firing into the car containing Castile, Reynolds and the little girl within seconds of approaching the vehicle over a broken brake light.
Yanez’s acquittal enraged much of the nation, with many people—including Castile’s family—questioning how this could ever be justice.
“I’m so very, very, very, very, very disappointed in the system in the state of Minnesota,” Valerie Castile, Philando’s mother, said after the verdict was handed down. “The system continues to fail black people, and they will continue to fail you all. … This happened with Philando; when they get done with us, they’re coming for you, you and you.”
