Absolutely

During a subsequent press conference, Diamond Reynolds—Castile's girlfriend—insisted that he had done nothing wrong. And she's right. They were stopped because their car had a broken tail light. That's it.

In Minnesota, citizens are allowed to carry firearms if they have a permit to do so. Castile was merely exercising his Second Amendment rights. His decision to inform the officer about his weapon was courteous, but not legally required. Permit holders in Minnesota do not need to tell cops that they are carrying firearms unless specifically asked.

It seems fairly clearly, then, that Castile is in some sense a Second Amendment martyr: He was killed by a police officer because he was exercising his rights. We know, of course, that these kinds of things are more likely to happen to black Americans, regardless of whether they were doing anything wrong.

My agreement here is with the understanding that the facts as reported are indeed the facts. Too often, this early in the investigation, they are not, and people's agendas run amok.