Effects of Baton Rouge shooting rippled outward, returned
CHICAGO (AP) — A racially charged narrative has re-emerged in the U.S. due to fatal shootings of black men by white officers as well as the shooting deaths of eight officers in Texas and Louisiana.
Castile, a 32-year-old school cafeteria supervisor, was driving in a St. Paul suburb with his girlfriend and her young daughter in the car when police pulled them over.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating, while the federal Justice Department is staying on the sideline despite pleas from the governor and other officials.
Authorities negotiated with 25-year-old Micah Johnson, a black military veteran who police said told them he was targeting white officers because of the recent shootings, but eventually used a robot-delivered bomb to kill him.
Johnson's friends and family also disagreed with officials' characterization of him as a loner, saying that he was a gregarious, colorblind extrovert — at least until he returned from Afghanistan after being accused of sexual harassment.
Police arrested more than 200 demonstrators over a three-day period and wore riot gear, carried rifles and drove armored vehicles.
Protesters claimed authorities became agitated, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana questioned police tactics during peaceful protests.
On July 12, police in Baton Rouge said they had arrested four people who were accused of stealing several handguns as part of a "substantial, credible threat" to harm police officers in the area.