Gutierrez: Philando Castile Shooting 'Another Sad Chapter In American History'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In the wake of two more high-profile incidents of young black men being shot and killed by police, Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez said it's time for Congress to do something to address the problem.
His voice breaking with emotions at times in a speech on the House floor, Gutierrez lamented "There is no national strategy to stop police from killing people, especially black people, especially black men."
Wednesday night, 32-year-old Philando Castile was shot and killed after police in Falcon Heights, Minnesota – a suburb of St. Paul – pulled over his fiancee's car. His fiancée posted a live video on Facebook just after an officer shot Castile. She said Castile was reaching for his wallet, and told police he was carrying a gun and had a conceal-and-carry permit, when an officer shot her fiancé four times.
Tuesday morning, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police officers responding to a disturbance call shot and killed 37-year-old Alton Sterling on the pavement outside a convenience store. Cell phone video of the shooting shows officers pinning Sterling to the ground, and shouting 'gun!' before shots ring out. The convenience store owner said Sterling didn't have a gun in his hand at the time he was shot, but officers removed a gun from his pocket afterward.
Gutierrez said such shootings have become all too common, but nothing meaningful has been done to stop them.
"This time, it was in St. Paul, Minnesota. Earlier this week, it was in Baton Rouge. But we know it is everywhere; in Chicago, in Baltimore, in South Carolina. It seems that every week or month another black man is shot by police, and we always have the same reaction: 'Oh, it's a tragedy. There should be an investigation.' A lawsuit is filed, and another settlement. 'Oh, the Justice Department and the FBI need to oversee the investigation, because we cannot trust the police to police themselves.' And then we go back to business as usual, and nobody actually does anything," he said.
Gutierrez said he was moved to speak out after watching video of the aftermath of Castile's shooting.
"This is another sad chapter in American history. I do not feel compelled to say in describing my grandson, Luisito, 'Well, first and foremost, he's not a gangbanger, he is not a thug;' but for this black mother and for a lot of African American mothers in this country, that is something they feel a necessity to say," he said. "Why is it, in 21st century America, we have to have a conversation about how to avoid being shot by the police? Why do I have to instruct my grandson about de-escalation if he comes in contact with the police? About strategies to prevent a sworn public servant and officer of the court – a trained member of law enforcement – and I have to instruct my teenage grandson how to prevent that person from shooting him to death for no reason?"
The congressman blasted majority House Republicans for holding politically-motivated hearings about the Hillary Clinton email case and other issues conservatives view as important, without taking any action about police shootings.
"The head of the FBI announces he won't press charges against a candidate in the Democratic party? Stop everything. We need to have hearings; Congressional hearings. Benghazi? Let's spend millions on hearings; politically hearings. Planned Parenthood? Let's form a special committee to do what the majority party feels is important from their political point of view. But a young black man is shot by police in his car in cold blood? Nothing," he said.
Gutierrez urged House Speaker Paul Ryan to take the lead on Congressional action about fatal shootings by police.
"I think black lives matter. I think the lives of young men in inner cities across this country matter. And I think this Congress should be the place where America comes together to decide what we are going to do about young black men getting shot by the police. Not next week, when it's going to happen again. Not next month, when it's going to happen again. Not waiting safely until after the election, when it happens again and again and again. Mr. Speaker, this Congress needs to come together and lead, and we need to start right now," he said.
