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July 8, 2016

Protests Against Police Brutality Spread Across the Country
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Protests against police brutality are spreading across the country in
the wake of the fatal police killings of African American men Alton
Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon
Heights, Minnesota. In Oakland, California, more than a 1,000 people
blocked Interstate 880 for hours. Hundreds more marched in Denver,
Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Atlanta and Baton Rouge. More than 40
people were arrested amid a massive march in New York City. In
Minnesota, thousands of people attended vigils for Philando Castile
outside the Montessori school where Castile had worked, and outside the
governor's mansion in St. Paul, where his girlfriend, Diamond "Lavish"
Reynolds spoke out.

Diamond 'Lavish' Reynolds: "They held me in a room. No water, no food.
They took my phone. No numbers. I don't have my phone. They took over my
Facebook. They took my groceries. They took everything that I had at the
time. And then they seized the car for evidence. They seized my phone
for evidence. Everybody who share that video, they don't want you guys
to be part of this. They don't want us to stand up for one another. They
don't want us to support each other. They want everybody to stand up for
them. They are going to tamper with evidence. They are going to tamper
with witnesses. They're going to do whatever they can to cover their
butts. This is not acceptable."

Diamond Lavish Reynolds livestreamed the video of the aftermath of her
boyfriend's death, narrating while she was still in the car, with an
officer pointing a gun at her and her daughter, as her boyfriend lay
dying next to her. The officer who fatally shot Castile has been
identified as 28-year-old Jeronimo Yanez. A second cop at the scene has
been identified as officer Joseph Kauser. Both officers are currently on
paid leave. On Thursday, Minnesota governor Mark Dayton said the fatal
shooting was motivated by racism.

Mark Dayton: "Would this have happened if the driver and the passengers
were white? I don't think it would have. So I'm forced to confront, and
I think all Minnesotans are forced to confront, this kind of racism
exists and it's incumbent on all of us to vow that we're going to do
everything that we can to see that it doesn't happen, it doesn't
continue to happen."

We'll have more on the fatal police killings of Alton Sterling in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, as
well as the shootings in Dallas, Texas, after headlines.


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