Minnesota governor says racism played a part in fatal police shooting

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said "all of us in Minnesota are forced to confront that this kind of racism exists" at a Thursday press conference following the fatal police shooting of a black man in St. Anthony. 

“Nobody should be shot and killed in Minnesota … for a taillight being out of function,” Dayton said. “Nobody should be shot and killed while seated still in their car. I’m heartbroken.”

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The man whom police killed, Philando Castile, 32, managed a school cafeteria. He was allegedly pulled over for a broken taillight while he was driving with Diamond "Lavish" Reynolds and her daughter. An officer shot him while he reportedly complied with the officer's order to show his driver's license. 

Dayton called for an investigation by the United States Department of Justice. 

If the DOJ takes up the investigation, it will be the second time they have done so for a fatal police shooting in as many days. 

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The DOJ opened an investigation on Tuesday into the police shooting of Alton Sterling, a black man in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who was shot by an officer while pinned to the ground. 

The fatal incident with Castile is the second time a police shooting in Minnesota has grabbed national headlines. 

The deadly November police shooting of Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old black man, sparked protests that resulted in intense standoffs between demonstrators and police outside of a police station down the street from where Clark was killed. 

None of the officers involved in Clark's shooting were charged. 

On Thursday, Dayton vowed that justice will be done in the case of Castile, though he declined to define what he thought justice should look like.

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