Minnesota Governor: Black Driver Wouldn’t Be Dead If He Were White

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota's governor says a suburban police officer probably wouldn't have shot a black motorist dead if the driver had been white.

Gov. Mark Dayton's strong words about this week's killing of Philando Castile threw him straight into a suddenly reignited debate about how police treat people of color.

Dayton all but called Castile's death in a St. Paul suburb an act of racism. He told protesters gathered outside his residence all day and night that no one should die over a traffic stop.

Hours after Dayton's remarks, gunmen shot and killed five police officers and wounded six more amid protests in Dallas over Castile's killing and a second fatal police shooting of a black man.