Last week, the Minnesota cop who shot and killed Philando Castile during a routine traffic stop in July 2016 — with Castile's girlfriend and 4-year-old daughter in the car — was acquitted of all charges. Sickening new dashcam footage of the moments leading up to Castile's death shows that he was calm and cooperative with the officer, informing him that he had a firearm in the glovebox. Seconds later, the officer shoots Castile seven times. The combination of the shocking verdict and damning video tape have evoked outrage from people across the country — including political comedian Trevor Noah, who addressed the situation on The Daily Show Monday night.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Noah offered his typically incisive political commentary on the air, but shared a more personal take in a segment taped between scenes. Noah points out that Castile, a model citizen beloved by his community, had been stopped by police an inconceivable 49 times in 13 years before the 36-year-old's final and fatal encounter. "You get to a point where you realize, it's just a part of a Black person's life in America," Noah began, launching into his own experience. "Here's how crazy it is. I've only lived in the United States for six years... In that time, I shit you not, I have been stopped by police maybe — I would say, going on at least 8 to 10 times, I've been stopped by the police."
The South Africa-raised comedian said that while he considered his number of police stops to be relatively low compared to someone like Castile, it always surprised other people. "[It] always blows white people’s minds, which I didn’t know was a thing." Noah, 36, continued, "It's the truth, I've been stopped a shit-ton of times. I’ve been stopped in rental cars, I’ve been stopped in my car, I’ve been stopped in a car with tinted windows, a car with rims, a car with no rims. I was stopped in a Tesla! Like, a Tesla, people. Like, I don’t know what silent crime you think I’m on my way to commit, but I’ve been stopped in a Tesla."
The host said that his immediate reaction after being pulled over is to throw both his arms out the window so the cop can see his hands, "Just because I would rather have the cop go, ‘You’re weird'" than think he was reaching for a gun, he explained. "That's the crazy thing, is I've just accepted it," he added. "It's insane that it's such a normal thing."
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Watch the segment in full below.