Zuckerberg: Shooting aftermath streamed on Facebook ‘heartbreaking’

by TheHill.com - 07/07/16 10:12 PM ET

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday evening weighed into the fatal shooting of Philando Castile in Minnesota, the aftermath of which was streamed on Facebook.

“My heart goes out to the Castile family and all the other families who have experienced this kind of tragedy,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post.

{mosads}”The images we’ve seen this week are graphic and heartbreaking, and they shine a light on the fear that millions of members of our community live with every day,” he wrote.

While cellphone video of police-involved shootings has become more prevalent in recent years in addition to security camera or dashboard footage, the aftermath of Wednesday’s shooting of Castile in Minnesota was live-streamed by his fiancee.

Diamond Reynolds streamed the moments after the shooting, as Castile slumped next to her in the front of the car, his white shirt soaked with blood and the officer standing a few feet away outside, his gun still drawn. The woman’s 4-year-old daughter sat in the back seat. Castile later died.

“While I hope we never have to see another video like Diamond’s, it reminds us why coming together to build a more open and connected world is so important — and how far we still have to go,” Zuckerberg said.

The shooting came day after police pinned to the ground and fatally shot another black man, Alton Sterling, in Baton Rouge, La., stoking renewed debate and protests over issues of race and police use of force in major cities Thursday night including New York and Washington, D.C.

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