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Diamond Reynolds and Larry Rogers, Jr. Address Philando Castile Shooting on Good Morning America

On Behalf of | Jul 11, 2016 | Firm News, Larry R. Rogers Jr.

Diamond Reynolds, the girlfriend of Philando Castile, appeared on ABC News’ Good Morning America to speak about Castile’s shooting at the hands of a police officer last week.

Castile was shot following a routine traffic stop last week in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. The 32-year-old black man was pulled over for a reportedly broken tail light, when he was shot four times by police officer Jeronimo Yanez. In Reynold’s Facebook live stream following the shooting, she explained that Castile informed the officer that he was armed, and that he had a concealed weapons permit after he was asked to produce his license and registration.

“[The gun] never came out. It could never be a threat. [Yanez] didn’t ask about it,” Reynolds said. “He didn’t know it was on his person. He came to the car. He said it was a traffic stop for a taillight, and then he asked for license and registration. That was it. That was all.”

She appeared on ABC News alongside her attorney Larry Rogers, Jr. of Power Rogers

“The video depicts the immediate aftermath, but it really describes the entirety of what happened because she describes the moments leading up to when she pulled out the phone,” Rogers, Jr. said. “It’s never denied, it’s never refuted by the officer, and she emphatically says ‘You asked him for his license and registration, and that’s what he was getting at the time that you shot him.’”

Earlier, Yanez’s attorney stated that the broken tail light wasn’t the only reason Castile was pulled over, but according to Reynolds, no other reason was mentioned during the traffic stop. “He never mentioned anything other than a tail light, and which we later discovered there was no broken tail light,” she said in the interview.

“And that’s the concern we have here, is that they will begin to add facts to the circumstances, which is why her live stream video from Facebook is so important,” continued Rogers, Jr. “And while a gun is still trained inside the vehicle and she is there, she knows that after the events unfold, she won’t be believed. She won’t be trusted. And she, like many people across America, have to document things because people inherently trust the officers against the citizens.”

Yanez’s attorney has yet to release the audio or video he claims will add new information to the case. “What’s important about that is that [Diamond] didn’t hide a video,” Rogers, Jr. said in the interview with Good Morning America. “She immediately displayed it to the public and to the world. So if they have evidence that they think refutes that, produce it right away. Don’t hide it, show it to us.” Rogers, Jr. is calling for an independent investigation to be conducted by the Justice Department in order to bring the facts of this shooting to light.

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