While the city of Baton Rouge deals with the unsettling death of one of its own, Alton Sterling, another Black man has lost his life. In Falcon Heights, Minnesota, Philando Castile was shot after being pulled over for a broken tail light. The incident was captured on video via Facebook by a woman name Diamond Reynolds. Reynolds recounts the incident as it is happening, and in the video, Castile is bleeding and slowly taking in his last breath.

CNN reports that Castile was licensed to carry a firearm. The police officer, asked Castile for his ID and when trying to reach for it in his back pocket, the young man was shot.  The video continues to record showing Reynolds holding her composure but praying that her friend isn’t dead.

Reynolds narrates the incident throughout much of the video — alerting her followers and the viewing public to what was happening.

She’s calm and composed at first; a striking juxtaposition to the officers yelling expletives outside the vehicle.

“Please don’t tell me this lord, please, Jesus don’t tell me that he’s gone,” Reynolds pleads with police in a hauntingly calm voice.

“Please don’t tell me that he’s gone. Please officer don’t tell me that you just did this to him.”

She’s then asked to step outside with her hands up. While being ordered to walk backwards toward police, she points the camera at them.

The phone is then thrown on the ground nearby. The camera faces up, and it keeps recording.

Reynolds begins to cry and lose her composure. She’s heard wailing and pleading with officers. Police can also be heard in the background.

And camera keeps pointing up at the sky, before it goes black while the voices continue.

Reynolds eventually gets a hold of the phone again, and says she begins filming from the back seat of a police car with the little girl.

She seems calm again, alerting viewers to her location and asking someone to come pick her up.

“I can’t believe they just did this,” she says.

Then she screams.

“It’s OK,” the little girl says. “I’m right here with you.”

 

There were two officers present when the incident occurred. One primary officer, with more than five years on the force, also had a backup officer to accompany him.  Ironically, the St. Anthony’s Police Department is not equipped with body cameras.

The officer in Castile’s case was placed on “standard” paid administrative leave, as well as, the officer in Sterling’s incident.

Both incidents bring more awareness to the problem of Black men losing their lives to the people who are hired to protect and serve.  It also shows the bravery of men and women, such as Reynolds, who quickly took the smart route and recorded what was happening. The more video tape and audio record these incidents happening, the documentation will be present. Data and statistics will be present and relevant. Our Black lives will matter, not only through voice, but by physical proof as well.

This is happening people. It is happening in 2016, in an age where technology is steadfast. Unfortunately, the mental well-beings of people in authority aren’t as mature. Something has to be done to end this cycle. We no longer want to be killed for being law abiding citizens.