Oklahoma police shoot and kill black man in street

[spaminator]

Oklahoma police shoot and kill black man in street
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Saturday, September 17, 2016 01:37 PM EDT | Updated: Saturday, September 17, 2016 08:49 PM EDT
TULSA, Okla. — The sister of a black man shot and killed by a Tulsa police officer when he reached into an SUV stalled in the street said on Saturday that she does not believe her brother was armed.
Terrence Crutcher, 40, died at the hospital where he was taken after he was shot by the officer at around 8 p.m. Friday, police said.
“One fact I do know is that my brother was unarmed,” Terrence Crutcher’s twin sister Tiffany Crutcher told a news conference Saturday. “I’m just devastated.”
MacKenzie declined to say Saturday whether a weapon was found and said the items that were recovered will not be revealed until a news conference Monday by Police Chief Chuck Jordan.
An attorney for the Crutcher family, Damario Solomon-Simmons, called on Saturday for police to release any video of the shooting. Police spokeswoman Jeanne MacKenzie said she believes the officers’ dash cameras might have captured video of the shooting. Tulsa police officers don’t have body cameras, although they were selected to receive a nearly $600,000 cash-match grant for them in 2015.
Solomon-Simmons told reporters that Crutcher was in the area because his car stalled and officers saw him while on an unrelated call and approached.
“From that point, I do not know what occurred. We have no idea, and that’s what is so difficult for us and the family,” Solomon-Simmons said. “That’s our job, to try to get answers for this family as they’re mourning.”
MacKenzie said an officer responding to another call saw the vehicle in the middle of the road and called for backup, and the two officers were walking toward the SUV when Crutcher approached them from the side of the road.
“He refused to follow commands given by the officers,” MacKenzie said. “They continued to talk to him, he continued not to listen and follow any commands.”
Tulsa police did not release the names and races of the officers’ involved. The officer who shot Crutcher was placed on paid leave, which is routine in cases of police-involved shootings. The county district attorney’s office will determine if the shooting was justified, MacKenzie said.
“Every situation is different. Officers are involved in typically fast-moving situations, and officers who choose to use force, base (those decisions) on the situation involved that they are facing,”MacKenzie said.
Online court records show Terrence Crutcher of Tulsa with the same date of birth as the man who was killed pleaded no contest in 1996 to carrying a concealed weapon and resisting an officer and was given a six-month suspended sentence.
His only other court records were for traffic violations, the most recent occurring in 2005.
Tulsa has a troubled recent history of police relations with the African-American community. In April, a white reserve Tulsa County sheriff’s deputy was convicted of manslaughter in the fatal shooting a year earlier of an unarmed black suspect who was on the ground being restrained by officers. The deputy said he thought he was shooting his stun gun when he shot the man with a handgun.
The shooting led to an investigation that resulted in misdemeanour charges against the county sheriff, who resigned and later pleaded no contest to a charge of refusal to perform official duty and pleaded guilty to wilful violation of the law. The reserve deputy program was briefly disbanded after an official report found it was riddled with corruption and reserves were poorly trained. But a new police chief reinstated it earlier this year.
Oklahoma police shoot and kill black man in street | World | News | Toronto Sun

 

[spaminator]

Tulsa police say Terence Crutcher had no gun; video shows he had hands up
Justin Juozapavicius, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Monday, September 19, 2016 01:39 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, September 20, 2016 12:10 AM EDT
TULSA, Okla. — An unarmed black man killed by a white Oklahoma officer who was responding to a stalled vehicle can be seen in police video walking away from officers and toward his SUV with his hands up before he approaches the driver’s side door, where he drops to the ground after being shocked with a stun gun then fatally shot.
In Tulsa police helicopter footage that was among several clips released Monday showing the shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher and its aftermath, a man in the helicopter that arrives above the scene as Crutcher walks to the vehicle can be heard saying “time for a Taser.” He then says: “That looks like a bad dude, too. Probably on something.”
Police Chief Chuck Jordan announced before the video and audio recordings’ release that Crutcher had no weapon on him or in his SUV when he was shot Friday. It’s not clear from the footage what led Betty Shelby, the officer who fired the fatal shot, to draw her gun or what orders officers might have given Crutcher. Local and federal investigations are underway to determine whether criminal charges are warranted in the shooting or if Crutcher’s civil rights were violated.
Crutcher’s twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, called for charges Monday.
“The big bad dude was my twin brother. That big bad dude was a father,” she said. “That big bad dude was a son. That big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College, just wanting to make us proud. That big bad dude loved God. That big bad dude was at church singing with all of his flaws, every week. That big bad dude, that’s who he was.”
Police video shows Crutcher walking toward his SUV that is stopped in the middle of the road. His hands are up and a female officer is following him. As Crutcher approaches the driver’s side of the SUV, three male officers walk up and Crutcher appears to lower his hands and place them on the vehicle. The officers surround him, making it harder to see his actions from the dashboard camera’s angle.
Crutcher can be seen dropping to the ground. Someone on the police radio says, “I think he may have just been tasered.” One of the officers near Crutcher backs up slightly.
Then almost immediately, someone can be heard yelling, “Shots fired!” Crutcher’s head then drops, leaving him completely lying out in the street.
After that, someone on the police radio can be heard saying, “Shots fired. We have one suspect down.”
Officer Tyler Turnbough, who’s also white, used a stun gun on Crutcher, police said.
The shooting comes just four months after former Tulsa County volunteer deputy Robert Bates was sentenced to four years in prison on a second-degree manslaughter conviction in the 2015 death of an unarmed black man. Shelby worked as a Tulsa County sheriff’s deputy for four years before joining the Tulsa Police Department in December 2011, officials said. She has been placed on paid leave.
The initial moments of Crutcher’s encounter with police are not shown in the footage. Shelby did not activate her patrol car’s dashcam, said police spokeswoman Jeanne MacKenzie, and the ground-level video released Monday came from the car of a second officer who arrived at the scene.
Initial police briefings indicated Crutcher was not obeying officers’ commands, but MacKenzie said Monday she didn’t know what Crutcher was doing that prompted police to shoot. Two 911 calls described an SUV that had been abandoned in the middle of the road. One unidentified caller said the driver was acting strangely, adding, “I think he’s smoking something.”
After the shooting, Crutcher could be seen lying on the side of the road, blood pooling around his body, for nearly two minutes before anyone checked on him. When asked why police did not provide immediate assistance once Crutcher was down, MacKenzie said, “I don’t know that we have protocol on how to render aid to people.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, which also called for charges, said Crutcher was left to bleed while officers stood by. The group’s executive director, Ryan Kiesel, said Crutcher’s death shows “how little regard” Tulsa police have for the community’s minorities.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside the county courthouse Monday evening holding signs that read, “Justice 4 Crutch” and “Don’t Shoot.”
With relations between police and blacks in Tulsa already uneasy, the community needs to be the place where change happens, Tiffany Crutcher said.
“This is bigger than us right here. We’re going to stop it right here,” she said.
U.S. Attorney Danny C. Williams said the Department of Justice’s civil rights investigation into the shooting will be separate from a local one into whether criminal charges should be filed.
“The Justice Department is committed to investigating allegations of force by law enforcement officers and will devote whatever resources are necessary to ensure that all allegations of serious civil rights violations are fully and completely investigated,” he said.
Speaking Monday in Tulsa, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump said Crutcher committed no crime and gave officers no reason to shoot him.
“When unarmed people of colour break down on the side of the road, we’re not treated as citizens needing help. We’re treated as, I guess, criminals — suspects that they fear,” said Crump, who is representing Crutcher’s family just as he did relatives of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed, black Florida teenager who was fatally shot by a neighbourhood watch volunteer in 2012.
He said Tulsa police drew their own conclusions about Crutcher.
“So I guess it’s a crime now to be a big black man,” Crump said. “My God, help us.”
Tulsa police say Terence Crutcher had no gun; video shows he had hands up | Worl

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

With relations between police and blacks in Tulsa already uneasy, the community needs to be the place where change happens, Tiffany Crutcher said.
“This is bigger than us right here. We’re going to stop it right here,” she said.

Yeah. That'll happen.

 

[Danbones]

well, if the blacks and the latinos and the muslims gang up
we could have us a new breed of injun in the cross hairs...

might give the reals ones a break for a while

 

[spaminator]

Attorney: Man ignored officer’s commands before shooting
Justin Juozapavicius And Sean Murphy, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Monday, September 19, 2016 01:39 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, September 20, 2016 10:37 PM EDT
TULSA, Okla. — Investigators found the drug PCP in the vehicle of an unarmed black man fatally shot by a white officer, according to Oklahoma police, but attorneys for the slain man’s family say a discussion of drugs distracts from questions about the use of deadly force.
Tulsa Sgt. Dave Walker told the Tulsa World on Tuesday that investigators recovered one vial of PCP in Terence Crutcher’s SUV, but he declined to say where in the vehicle it was found or whether officers determined if Crutcher used it Friday night. Walker confirmed to The Associated Press that what he told the newspaper was true, but declined further comment.
A spokeswoman for the state medical examiner’s office said autopsy and toxicology results for Crutcher are pending, and police said Tuesday the toxicology report could take several weeks.
Attorneys for Crutcher’s family said the man’s relatives did not know whether drugs were found in his vehicle and, even if they were, that wouldn’t justify his fatal shooting.
“Let us not be throwing a red herring, and to say because something was found in the car that was justification to shoot him,” said attorney Benjamin Crump, one of the family’s lawyers.
Crump compared Crutcher’s shooting to Monday’s arrest of New York bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami, who police say engaged officers in a shootout.
“He wasn’t killed. So why was an unarmed black man who has committed no crime, who only needs a hand, given bullets in his lungs?” Crump said.
Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby fatally shot the 40-year-old on Friday after responding to a report of a stalled vehicle. Sgt. Shane Tuell said Tuesday that Shelby had a stun gun at the time but did not use it. Officer Tyler Turnbough, who is also white, used a stun gun on Crutcher, police said.
Two 911 calls described an SUV that had been abandoned in the middle of the road. One unidentified caller said the driver was acting strangely, adding, “I think he’s smoking something.”
PCP or phencyclidine, also called angel dust, can cause slurred speech, loss of co-ordination and a sense of strength or invulnerability, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. At high doses, it can cause hallucinations and paranoia.
Oklahoma prison officials confirmed Tuesday that Crutcher served four years in prison on a drug conviction from 2007 to 2011.
But Damario Solomon-Simmons, another attorney for Crutcher’s family, said Shelby and other officers had no way of knowing about Crutcher’s background or the potential for drugs in his vehicle when they approached him Friday.
“It’s undisputed that the officers on the scene had no idea what may be in Terence’s car,” Solomon-Simmons said. “At that particular moment that he was shot, he was not a suspect for any crime. Period.”
Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Monday that Crutcher had no weapon on him or in his SUV when he was shot. It’s not clear from dashcam and aerial footage what led Shelby to draw her gun or what orders officers gave Crutcher.
Shelby’s attorney, Scott Wood, said Crutcher was not following the officers’ commands and that Shelby was concerned because he kept reaching for his pocket as if he was carrying a weapon.
“He has his hands up and is facing the car and looks at Shelby, and his left hand goes through the car window, and that’s when she fired her shot,” Wood told the Tulsa World.
But attorneys for Crutcher’s family challenged that claim Tuesday, presenting an enlarged photo from the police footage that appeared to show that Crutcher’s window was rolled up.
Local and federal investigations are underway to determine whether criminal charges are warranted and whether Crutcher’s civil rights were violated.
Hundreds of protesters rallied Tuesday night outside police headquarters in downtown Tulsa calling for Shelby to be fired.
“Police treated Crutcher differently than they would if a white person had been stopped in a similar instance,” said Sharon Smith, 60, an African-American resident of the suburb of Broken Arrow.
Organizers urged participants to remain peaceful, and the protesters dispersed before nightfall without any incidents.
Police helicopter footage was among several clips released Monday that show the shooting and aftermath. A man in the helicopter that arrives above the scene as Crutcher walks to the vehicle can be heard saying “time for a Taser” and then: “That looks like a bad dude, too. Probably on something.”
Betty Shelby’s mother-in-law, Lois Shelby, said the officer is grieving for Crutcher’s family and isn’t prejudiced. She told the AP in a phone interview Tuesday that Shelby “thought she had to protect her own life” when she shot Crutcher.
“She wouldn’t harm anyone. We’re all sick. We feel for the (Crutcher) family,” Lois Shelby said. “But, you know, we have a family that goes out every day and faces life and death. And when she is being accused of things she didn’t do wrong, it’s too much, and they don’t think about our family.”
Betty Shelby declined comment, referring calls to her attorney.
Police video shows Crutcher walking toward his SUV that is stopped in the middle of the road. His hands are up and a female officer is following him. As Crutcher approaches the driver’s side of the SUV, more officers arrive and Crutcher appears to lower his hands and place them on the vehicle before the officers surround him.
Crutcher can be seen dropping to the ground. Someone on the police radio says, “I think he may have just been tasered.” Then almost immediately, someone can be heard yelling, “Shots fired!” and Crutcher is left lying in the street.
Shelby’s attorney, Wood, said Turnbough fired the stun gun at the same time Shelby opened fire because both perceived a threat.
The shooting comes four months after ex-Tulsa County volunteer deputy Robert Bates was sentenced to four years in prison on a second-degree manslaughter conviction in an unarmed black man’s 2015 death. Bates said he mistakenly grabbed his gun instead of his Taser. Shelby worked as a Tulsa County sheriff’s deputy for four years before joining the Tulsa Police Department in December 2011, officials said. She has been placed on paid leave.
Attorney: Man ignored officer’s commands before shooting | World | News | Toront

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

He forced the cops to shoot him by being black.

 

[davesmom]

Report on CNN less than an hour ago - Family said the victim was sitting in his car reading a book, unarmed. Police said there was no book and the victim had a gun.
I think this is a good time to wait and see. Did he have a gun or did he not?

 

[DaSleeper]

Cops Shoot White Guy in Fresno; Nobody Pays Attention | Daily Wire
Where is the "White lives matter riot"?

 

[MHz]

Pretty sad that he was killed after the taser had him on the ground.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Report on CNN less than an hour ago - Family said the victim was sitting in his car reading a book, unarmed. Police said there was no book and the victim had a gun.
I think this is a good time to wait and see. Did he have a gun or did he not?

That was:

A different shooting.

In a different city.

In a different state.

On a different day.

So, yeah, you probably do want to wait and see.

While you're waiting, you could look up the difference between Tulsa, Oklahoma and Charlotte, North Carolina.

 

[davesmom]

That was:

A different shooting.

In a different city.

In a different state.

On a different day.

So, yeah, you probably do want to wait and see.

While you're waiting, you could look up the difference between Tulsa, Oklahoma and Charlotte, North Carolina.

You are correct. But still a good idea to wait and see. Trial by public opinion is never a good idea.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

You are correct. But still a good idea to wait and see. Trial by public opinion is never a good idea.

I commend you. I wasn't very nice in my response, and you didn't try to dodge that you made a mistake, and declined to lash back in kind.

That was classy. Well done, ma'am.

 

[gopher]

a black man shot and killed by a Tulsa police officer when he reached into an SUV stalled in the street

photo shows that the window was closed and that he did not reach into the SUV:

His lawyer reports that there is blood on the window which could not have happened if it was open when the cops shot him.

 

[HarperCons]

police are totally useless in the u.s.a, it's seems they're only there to kill black people.

 

[Cliffy]

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Well, they charged the cop with manslaughter. So now we wait a year or so for legal maneuvering, then incompetently prosecute it to a hung jury, then "decline to re-try the case."

 

[MHz]

Here is the right thread for this link.

https://sputniknews.com/us/20160922/1045608712/tulsa-cop-charged.html
The officer involved in the shooting death of Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Oklahoma has been charged with 1st degree manslaughter.

Local district attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced the charges against officer Betty Shelby on Thursday afternoon. "A warrant has been issued for her arrest," Kunzweiler said, adding that "arrangements are being made for her surrender to the Tulsa County Sheriffs Department."

 

[davesmom]

I commend you. I wasn't very nice in my response, and you didn't try to dodge that you made a mistake, and declined to lash back in kind.

That was classy. Well done, ma'am.

Thank you.

 

[gopher]

Well, they charged the cop with manslaughter. So now we wait a year or so for legal maneuvering, then incompetently prosecute it to a hung jury, then "decline to re-try the case."

she should have been charged with first degree murder

 

[MHz]

How much you had to drink today??