The Minnesota police officer who shot and killed Philando Castile is back on administrative leave after a brief return to duty.
Officer Jeronimo Yanez returned to active duty in an administrative role at his St. Anthony Police Department last Friday, a month and a half after he opened fire at Castile during a traffic stop.
The 32-year-old cafeteria supervisor’s death, which his fiancée said happened as her boyfriend reached for his wallet, led to nationwide protests against police brutality.
Yanez’s shooting is currently under investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and St. Anthony said that it based its decision on having him return off of “how other departments and agencies have handled comparable, difficult situations.”
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| Philando Castile |
However, the move met with vocal opposition from Castile’s family, as well as activists who believe Yanez should be fired and prosecuted.
“He gets a chance to go back to work and my son will not get that chance, to go back to work,” Castile’s mother Valerie told WCCO of Yanez.
“We just simply don’t believe that he should put on that uniform at such an early stage, when there have been no decisions made on what’s going to happen to him,” his uncle Clarence Castile said.
In a statement Wednesday, St. Anthony said that Yanez, 28, had been placed back on administrative leave “out of respect to the sensitive nature of the tragic incident and the concerns from the community.”
The backtracking came after St. Anthony Police Chief Jon Mangseth had responded to Yanez’s return by praising the officer for “a real sound ability when it comes to communicating with people.”
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| Philando Castile’s wife |
Yanez’s attorney Thomas Kelley has said that his client’s shooting of Castile was not based on race but based on the fact that the driver had a gun.
Castile had a permit to carry his gun in his wallet, and his fiancée said that he told the officer about it before being shot.
