Amid intense debate over a jury’s decision to acquit the Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile last July, a popular megachurch pastor weighed in on the matter with a pointed tweet expressing his shock.
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“I can’t understand how a court could land where they did on #PhilandoCastile while the department removed him,” Matt Chandler,” pastor of The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas, wrote on Twitter. “Feels dirty & demonic.”
Castile’s case made international headlines after he was shot by Officer Jeronimo Yanez during a traffic stop and Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, posted video of his final moments on Facebook Live.
I can't understand how a court could land where they did on #PhilandoCastille while the department removed him…feels dirty & demonic
— Matt Chandler (@MattChandler74) June 17, 2017
Reynolds has said that Castile was merely grabbing for his license when he was shot by Yanez.
The officer, who was acquitted by a jury on Friday after being charged with second-degree manslaughter and endangering safety by discharging a firearm, testified in court that he was fearful Castile was reaching for a gun, The New York Times reported.
Yanez, who worked in the city of St. Anthony, will no longer be on patrol, with officials announcing that they will be offering him a “voluntary separation agreement,” the outlet noted. The decision to acquit the officer has sparked a plethora of protests.
This brokenness requires radical steps but it's deeply demonic. Praying for Holy Spirit breakthrough and the binding of this spirit
— Matt Chandler (@MattChandler74) June 17, 2017
Chandler’s reaction to the verdict was retweeted more than 500 times and liked nearly 1,500 times, with a diverse array of responses flowing in. While some agreed with the preacher’s assessment, others pushed back.
Below, see just some of those responses:
@MattChandler74 if you've never been in law enforcement and never had to make a split second decision, don't comment. Love you sermons!
— Justin Barnard (@JustinBarnard1) June 17, 2017
Being black in America means that we are taught from a young age to act differently than white people when approached by the cops.
— Ray Massey II (@11thH0ur) June 18, 2017
Easy to judge a play after it has ran. Don't know if he was right or wrong. Wasn't there.
— Justin Barnard (@JustinBarnard1) June 17, 2017
Thank you so much for saying something. The silence of so many spiritual leaders often speaks so much more loudly than they likely intend.
— Lindsey Appiah (@LAppiah) June 17, 2017
Demonic is yelling racism about this issue constantly & refusing to admit when have been wrong. Preaching white guilt seems demonic also.
— Eric Horton (@ericjhorton75) June 17, 2017
Such lack of compassion in the "Christian" community. No matter your opinion, if your first response isn't mourning, you're doing it wrong.
— Zachary Monroe (@Z_Mon13) June 17, 2017
Well the police department did say "no reasonable officer" would have done this Eventually officers killing ppl has to stop,convictions help
— logangentry (@logangentry) June 17, 2017
I agree here. But something caused the jury to vote the way they did. Beyond a reason doubt is a high threshold. Heck, look at Cosby…
— Mike McClung (@MikeRMcClung) June 17, 2017
Appreciate your tweet. This is messy but seeing pastors stand up and speak about unpopular issues within the evang church is encouraging
— Dayna Appiah (@djD_App) June 17, 2017
An innocent man is dead, and I cannot believe some of these things the "Christian" community is replying. May God heal your hardened hearts.
— Cami Ferrell (@cam3r00ny) June 17, 2017
Read more about the Castile verdict here.