Attorneys for the Minnesota police officer who shot Philando Castile dead this past July are looking to get the manslaughter charges held against their client dropped. But their attempts to do so include holding Castile responsible for his own death. 

According to the Associated Press, Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez’s attorney claims that a toxicology report revealed Castile had THC in his system at the time of his death, meaning that he was under the influence of marijuana when he was driving and pulled over.

Defense Attorney Earl Gray used court documents to also suggest that Castile didn’t inform Yanez that he was armed and that the officer’s actions were justified given his limited information.

Gray took the opportunity to assert that squad car video shows that “Mr. Castile himself was culpably negligent and was the substantial cause of his own demise.”

“He should not even have been driving while under the influence. He should have showed his hands. He should not have reached for the handgun,” Gray continued.

In case this kind of legal proceeding is unfamiliar to you, what Gray and Yanez’s other attorneys are looking to do is put the onus of the officer’s actions on the civilian who did nothing wrong, was regularly stopped by police and reportedly informed him that he was armed.

This is yet another example of those Black people who are killed extra-judiciously being blamed for their own tragic and premature deaths.