Black man who was killed by police while being streamed on Facebook live by his girlfriend had been pulled over 31 times and had 63 traffic charges
The family of Philando Castile have accused police of racially profiling the shooting victim who had a clean criminal record aside from his numerous traffic violations
The blackman whose death was live streamed on Facebook after being gunned down by police had been pulled over 31 times by cops and had 63 traffic charges.
A report by the Mail Online revealed that Philando Castile, 32, had paid hundreds of dollars in road fines after being found guilty of 43 separate offences.
Castile, who had a clean criminal record aside from the driving violations, was shot dead by a traffic cop Jeronimo Yanez in Minnesota on Wednesday after being pulled over for having a faulty tail light.
His tragic death was streamed live by his girlfriend Diamond Reynolds sparking national outrage and protests against the US police.
The victim’s family insist he was the repeated target of ‘DWB’ which means ‘driving while black’.
The Mail report reveals that Castile had been pulled over at least 31 times in the past 14 years and was charged with numerous misdemeanour offences.
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The violations included failure to wear a seat belt, speeding , driving after a revocation, no proof of insurance, improper display of original plate and parking infractions.
In January, the 32-year-old, was convicted of allegedly twice leaving his vehicle abandoned on 'public/private property without consent'.
Earlier this same month, he was hit with a parking charge and convicted for breaching ‘snow emergency parking restrictions'.
Family members told the Mail they believe was stopped because he was racially profiled by police.
His cousin Damion Pickett, 37, said: “He was stopped because they think every African-American does crime but it doesn't happen like that.
“He was 'DWB' – driving while black. They think that of everybody, especially guys with dreads.
“You cannot label one person just off a few people because every black person is not that.”
Damion's twin sister, Angelic Pickett, added: “I take my hat off to his girlfriend.
“If she didn't record that, what would the outcome of this be? They would have taken the cop's word because he's (Castile) not here.”
Following the horrifying shooting, governor of Minnesota Mark Dayton questioned whether the officer involved would have pulled the trigger if Castile wasn’t African American.
He said: “Would this have happened if the driver and the passengers were white?.
“I don't think it would have.
“This kind of racism exists and it's incumbent on all of us to vow that we're gonna do all that we can to see that it doesn't continue to happen.”
The Minnesota police department has not commented publicly on the allegations of racism.
Officer Jeronimo Yanez, who shot and killed Castile, has been placed on leave.
Girlfriend Reynolds, who was taken into custody following the incident but was later released, has been instrumental in organising the protests in Minnesota against the police department.
This week she told a angry group of activists, many of whom were holding Black Lives Matter signs, that the authorities had killed an innocent man.
She said: “The police did this to us. The police killed him in front of my daughter. The police did this to me. They took an innocent man away from us.”
Castile's death, along with Alton Sterling's killing the day before in Louisiana, has led to demonstrations across America against police shootings.
A Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas on Thursday night erupted into a horrifying violence when five police officers were shot and killed by at least one sniper.
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