ACLU sues City of St. Anthony Village to gain access to the police dash camera footage of the Philando Castile Shooting
CASE BACKGROUND
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a lawsuit today against the City of St. Anthony Village, Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety to force the release of all squad camera video(s) documenting the police killing of Philando Castile. St. Anthony Village police shot and killed Philando Castile, an African American man, in July 2016. The ACLU argues in their brief that the public has a right to access this footage and the Defendants' refusal to release it violates the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.
In their brief the ACLU cites the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act which expressly provides that data documenting law enforcement actions to "cite, arrest, incarcerate or otherwise substantially deprive an adult individual of liberty shall be public at all times." (Minn. Stat. § 13.82, subd. 2)
The defendants have kept this video private claiming that it constitutes "criminal investigative data". However, the ACLU argues that even if the videos are criminal investigative data, they should be released because the public benefit outweighs any potential harm.
