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As It Happens

Philando Castile friend 'all out of tears and ready to fight'

Bishop Bryant Kemp says Castile's death has left him numb. He was a friend of the Minnesota man, whose girlfriend shot live video during the fatal incident. Her four-year-old daughter was in the backseat of the car at the time.
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Relatives and friends identified the man shot by police in Minnesota as Philando Castile, 32. (Philando Castile/Facebook)
As It Happens9:19Philando Castile friend 'all out of tears and ready to fight'

Philando Castile's family and friends are both mourning and protesting his death at the hand's of police.

The Minnesota man was pulled over by officers in a traffic stop late Wednesday with his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her daughter in the car. He wound up dead, shot multiple times.

Diamond Reynolds weeps after she recounts the incidents that led to the fatal shooting of her boyfriend Philando Castile by Minneapolis area police during a traffic stop. (Eric Miller/Reuters)

Reynolds posted a live stream video on Facebook in the minutes after the shooting. She says, when the officers asked for his licence and registration, he told them he was carrying a registered firearm before reaching for his wallet.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: Unverified Facebook Live video of shooting aftermath

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: Unverified Facebook Live video of shooting aftermath

8 years ago
Duration 9:50
Shows man bleeding in car with woman and child and officer at window

Divar Bryant Kemp was a friend of Castile. He has been helping the family with emotional support.

"They're hurt. This is a good family . . . upstanding citizens in the community and Momma's just distraught because they didn't take a child, they took her only son away from her," Kemp tells As It Happens guest host Susan Bonner. 

"I think I'm all out of tears and ready to fight."

Bishop Bryant Kemp, a family friend of Philando Castile (Facebook)

Since 2000, at least 143 people in Minnesota have died after being shot, Tasered or restrained by a police officer. Not a single officer has been charged. 

"My faith says pray and I pray that this situation with Philando can be the nucleus that causes our police system to take a better look at who they're hiring and to do better reprimanding," says Kemp.

Kemp recalls his brother who was killed at the hands of Minnesota police in 2008. He says he was "tased," claiming his brother was unarmed at the time of the incident. 
Demonstrators chant during a "Black Lives Matter" protest in front of the Governor's Mansion in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S., July 7. (Eric Miller/Reuters)

"Because I am a man of God and a preacher, I believe God can do all things. But because I also live in a real world and a real society, my hope is very, very small."

Nishka Johnson touches a makeshift memorial for Alton Sterling, outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, La., Wednesday, July 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert/Associated Press)

Castile's death comes just days after the police shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

"For what reason were either one of them killed?," says Kemp. "I think you have some racists and some bigots that hold guns and badges. And what they're doing is they're playing out what's been in their minds and in their hearts.

"African American males, those who are doing right or those who are doing wrong, are a threat, in some people's eyes, to America."

To learn more about Philando Castile and his friendship with Divar Bryant Kemp, take a listen to our full interview.

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