Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., took to Twitter on Saturday to call for justice reform after the officer who shot and killed Philando Castile, Jeronimo Yanez, was found not guilty of second-degree manslaughter and was acquitted of two other counts on Friday.
Castile, a 32-year-old black male, was pulled over by Yanez and another officer on July 6, 2016, in Falcon Heights, Minn. Sanders’ flurry of tweets started with a response to an article about the Castile verdict.
“Our criminal justice system is profoundly broken and has failed African Americans over and over again,” the senator tweeted.
Our criminal justice system is profoundly broken and has failed African Americans over and over again. https://t.co/0Xca18wQoA
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) June 17, 2017
Sanders continued by calling for “major reforms” that include “lethal force” as a very last response.
“We must demand a justice system that values black lives, not one that takes innocent black lives,” Sanders tweeted.
We need major reforms including making certain that lethal force is the last response, not the first response.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) June 17, 2017
Thousands of people protested the verdict Friday night, leading to at least 18 arrests by the Minnesota State Patrol.
