"Would this have happened if the driver and the passengers had been white? I don't think so," the governor declared.
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton spoke out Thursday following the shooting of Philando Castile at the hands of a police officer, saying the victim’s fate would have been different had he been white.
“Would this have happened if the driver and the passengers had been white? I don't think so,” the governor declared.
Dayton added: “I can't say how shocked I am and deeply, deeply offended that this would happen to somebody in Minnesota. No one should be shot in Minnesota for a tail light being out of function. No one should be killed in Minnesota while seated in their car."
Castile died Wednesday night after being shot by an officer in Falcon Heights during a traffic stop. His girlfriend, Diamond "Lavish" Reynolds, recorded the aftermath of the shooting, broadcasting it on Facebook Live.
The shooting occurred after Castile allegedly told the police officer he was carrying a permitted firearm.
Castile, who would have been 33 in 10 days, was shot multiple times as he reached for his license and registration that the officer had requested, Reynolds said.
“Stay with me!” Reynolds yelled as her bloodied boyfriend moaned and slumped over in the driver’s seat of his car.
Also in the car was Reynold’s 4-year-old daughter, who witnessed the incident.
The incident, which is the second shooting of a black man in America by police in as many days, has sparked nationwide outrage. Alton Sterling was shot dead in a scuffle with Baton Rouge police officers early Tuesday morning.
Read: Alton Sterling's Son Breaks Down as Family Addresses Fatal Police Shooting Outrage
President Obama condemned the shootings on Thursday, saying the country has a “serious problem.”
The president said feels “anger, frustration and grief,” after the shootings in a social media post.
Read @POTUS’s statement on the fatal shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile: https://t.co/K313srpinP pic.twitter.com/rVj40rHRKE
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 7, 2016
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is the father of a biracial son and daughter, spoke on Thursday about the killings of Castile and Sterling.
He said: “It’s an unacceptable state of affairs. This is not what America is supposed to be."
“No parent of color, or parent of a child of color in this country, can watch that and not be afraid," he added. "You fear for the life of a child when you see a situation like this, because it's inexplicable."
In the aftermath of the shootings, Beyonce expressed her outrage on social media and urged people to contact their politicians.
Watch: Bystander Captured Moment Cops Gave Philando Castile CPR After He Was Shot in Car
