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IPFS News Link • Social Networking/Social Media

For Philando Castile, Social Media Was the Only 911

• Wired

Diamond Reynolds was begging her boyfriend, Philando Castile, after a police officer fatally shot him following a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, last night. But the desperate request also applied to the nearly 3 million people who eventually tuned in to Reynolds' Facebook Live stream of the moments after the ordeal.

As Reynolds captured the shooting's aftermath—from Castile's blood-drenched t-shirt to the officer's screams to Reynolds' daughter's efforts to comfort her mother—the Facebook audience stayed with her, turning Philando Castile into a household name quite literally overnight.

Because what else could they do? What else could she?

Victims of police shootings have no authorities to call, no higher-ups to summon. In these situations, police are witness, assailant, and first responder—all three.


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