A NJ BAT at NEA RA in Favor of Voting For NBI 129
by Carrie Odgers Lax
One year ago, almost to the day, we sat in the convention center in Washington DC and observed a moment of silence for Philando Castile, a cafeteria supervisor at J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School in Saint Paul, Minn., who had just been shot to death during a routine traffic stop. We sat, in our silence, with the knowledge that a police officer had fired seven shots into Philando Castile's car, where he was belted into his seat, with his girlfriend next to him, and her four year old daughter in the back.
On Friday, June 16th, whatever small amount of faith I still had that justice would, or even could, prevail in America, was taken from me as Officer Jeronimo Yanez was found not guilty second degree manslaughter. Not guilty of intentionally discharging a dangerous weapon. Acquitted on all charges.
As a mother, I mourned. As an American, I was consumed with rage. And then, four days later, the dashcam footage was released. And I forced myself to witness.
And what I learned was that I wasn't ready to watch as a man who followed the law, who obeyed every request that was made of him, and who spoke and acted with complete respect for authority...was shot, repeatedly, as he and his girlfriend desperately tried to reassure the Badass Teachers Association: A NJ BAT at NEA RA in Favor of Voting For NBI 129 by Carrie Odgers Lax:
