{"id":49726,"date":"2016-09-20T06:48:04","date_gmt":"2016-09-20T10:48:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=49726"},"modified":"2016-09-20T06:48:45","modified_gmt":"2016-09-20T10:48:45","slug":"man-fatally-shot-by-tulsa-police-was-unarmed-chief-says-as-disturbing-video-is-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=49726","title":{"rendered":"Man fatally shot by Tulsa police was unarmed, chief says, as \u2018disturbing\u2019 video is released"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--more-->By Peter Holley, Wesley Lowery and Derek Hawkins<br \/>\nThe Washington Post<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/video\/c\/embed\/8e7a5c0e-7ea3-11e6-ad0e-ab0d12c779b1\" width=\"480\" height=\"290\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Tulsa, Okla., \u00a0police released video footage Monday that shows a white police officer fatally shooting an unarmed black man \u2014 footage that the city\u2019s police chief called \u201cvery disturbing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to watch,\u201d Police Chief Chuck Jordan said at a news conference Monday. \u201cThe first time I watched it I watched it with the family \u2026 we will do the right thing, we will not cover anything up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jordan said investigators never found a\u00a0weapon on Terence Crutcher or in his vehicle after the 40-year-old was shot and killed Friday as he stood beside his stalled SUV.<\/p>\n<p>Crutcher died in a\u00a0hospital later that evening.<\/p>\n<p>Police spokeswoman Jeanne MacKenzie had earlier told reporters that two officers were walking toward the stalled SUV when Crutcher approached them from the side of the road.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe refused to follow commands given by the officers,\u201d MacKenzie said. \u201cThey continued to talk to him; he continued not to listen and follow any commands. As they got closer to the vehicle, he reached inside the vehicle and at that time there was a Taser deployment, and a short time later there was one shot fired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Attorney Danny Williams has announced that the Justice Department has opened an independent investigation into the shooting.<\/p>\n<p>The footage is the latest in a series of controversial videos showing white police officers fatally shooting unarmed black men, and promises to add a new chapter to an already bitter and divisive debate about race and policing in America.<\/p>\n<p>Crutcher is one of at least 680 people \u2014 161 of them black men \u2014 who have been shot and killed by police officers this year, according to a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/graphics\/national\/police-shootings\/\">Washington Post database tracking police shootings<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As has been the case in city after city following fatal police shootings, local officials called for calm and promised transparency in the hopes of preempting civil unrest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"interstitial-link\"><i>[<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/morning-mix\/wp\/2016\/09\/19\/black-man-shot-by-tulsa-police-had-hands-in-the-air-says-pastor-who-reviewed-video-of-the-shooting\/\">Black man shot by Tulsa police had hands \u2018in the air,\u2019 says pastor who reviewed video of the shooting<\/a>]<\/i><\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease maintain the peace,\u201d Jordan urged.<\/p>\n<p>The chief released few details about the shooting Monday, but said that officers discovered an SUV running in the middle of the road with its doors open. He said that officers then encountered Crutcher, who the officers claim did not comply with their demands and appeared to reach into the vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>Video shows Crutcher walking toward his vehicle with his hands above his head while several officers follow closely behind him with weapons raised. He lingers at his vehicle\u2019s driver\u2019s side window, his body facing the SUV, before slumping to the ground a second later.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShots fired!\u201d a female voice can be heard yelling.<\/p>\n<p>Based on the video alone, it appears unclear who fired the fatal shot or why it was fired.<\/p>\n<p>After Crutcher is hit, footage shows his limp and bloodied body lying on the roadway beside his vehicle. Officers appear to wait more than a minute before approaching Crutcher while he bleeds in the street.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was reported that Terence died at the hospital, that is not true,\u201d said Demario Solomon Simmons, one of the attorneys for Crutcher\u2019s family. \u201cTerence died on that street by himself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, police released the names of the officers involved. Officer Betty Shelby, who has been with the force since 2011,\u00a0fired her service\u00a0weapon, and officer Tyler Turnbough, who was hired in 2009,\u00a0deployed his Taser, police said. Both officers\u00a0were placed on administrative leave with pay.<\/p>\n<p>Police showed the video to Crutcher\u2019s family Sunday afternoon, and then to a group of local community leaders and ministers.<\/p>\n<p>The Crutcher family and their attorneys were particularly angered by audio recordings of the responding officers, in which one officer describes Crutcher as a \u201cbad dude.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re truly devastated. The entire family is devastated,\u201d said Tiffany Crutcher, the slain man\u2019s twin sister. \u201cThat big bad dude was a father, that big bad dude was a son, that big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College just wanting to make us all proud, that big bad dude loved God, that big bad dude was in church singing with all of his flaws every week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Crutcher said her family\u2019s demand is for the \u201cincompetent\u201d officer who killed her brother to be charged immediately.<\/p>\n<p>She recalled celebrating her and her brother\u2019s recent 40th birthday, on Aug. 16. On that day, Crutcher texted her to promise that he would complete his community college classes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have his text message, and it said: I\u2019m going to show you. I\u2019m going to make you all proud,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd now he\u2019ll never get that chance.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TerenceCrutcher?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TerenceCrutcher<\/a> sister: &quot;That big bad dude was my twin brother, a father&#8230;..loved God.&quot; Watch live <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FOX23?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FOX23<\/a> now <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pJ1c3XNJqG\">pic.twitter.com\/pJ1c3XNJqG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tiffany Alaniz (@TiffanyAlaniz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TiffanyAlaniz\/status\/777934090452336641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 19, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">UPDATE: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TulsaPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TulsaPolice<\/a>-Officer Betty Shelby is officer who discharged weapon during fatal shooting <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TerenceCrutcher?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TerenceCrutcher<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zXXTXnA3WR\">pic.twitter.com\/zXXTXnA3WR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tiffany Alaniz (@TiffanyAlaniz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TiffanyAlaniz\/status\/777595433195495424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 18, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Ray Owens, pastor of Metropolitan Baptist Church, was one of the the ministers shown the video before its public release and said the images were even worse than expected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t expect the video to be this troubling, but it is troubling,\u201d Owens said. \u201cThe officer who shot and killed Terence said he refused to show his hands. The video footage, however, shows him with hands in the air, he walks away from the police at a slow pace, leans against the car, and that is when he was shot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Owens said that the group of leaders gathered in the room were shocked by what they had seen, especially because it appeared that officers did not render aid to the dying man for more than a minute after he was shot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe asked questions of the police officers and the chief of police, who was there,\u201d Owens said. \u201cAnd there didn\u2019t seem to be a real good explanation for why police would not have rendered medical aid for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe needed help, he needed a hand. And what he got was a bullet in the lungs,\u201d said Benjamin Crump, a civil rights attorney who has represented the families of the slain in many high-profile police shootings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"interstitial-link\"><i>[<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/post-nation\/wp\/2016\/08\/24\/police-killed-a-black-face-eater-heres-why-they-say-a-white-guy-turned-zombie-lived\/?utm_term=.63c70cef606a\">Police killed the black \u2018Miami zombie.\u2019 So why did a terrifying, face-eating white teen live?<\/a>]<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Crump compared the shooting to that of Jonathan Ferrell in North Carolina and Corey Jones in Florida, both cases which began with a black man having his car break down only to end up shot dead by an officer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was Terence Crutcher\u2019s crime?\u201d Crump asked. \u201cWhen unarmed people of color break down on the side of the road, we\u2019re not treated as citizens needing help, we\u2019re treated as criminals, as suspects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Tulsa, Friday\u2019s shooting is the second time in as many years that the\u00a0police have been involved in a controversial, high-profile shooting that was captured on video. This year, 74-year-old Robert Bates, a wealthy insurance executive who was a reserve Tulsa deputy, was convicted\u00a0of second-degree manslaughter by a jury after he was\u00a0caught on camera killing an unarmed black man fleeing police.<\/p>\n<p>In April, jurors only needed three hours to find Bates guilty. His lawyer blamed \u201cnegative press\u201d for the verdict.<\/p>\n<p>The insurance executive had\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national\/sheriff-lawyer-dispute-whether-73-year-old-deputy-qualified\/2015\/04\/20\/588eed74-e7c0-11e4-8581-633c536add4b_story.html\">pleaded not guilty<\/a>\u00a0to second-degree manslaughter in the death of Eric Harris, the\u00a0unarmed black man he shot and killed during an undercover operation April 2, 2015. Moments after shooting Harris, Bates could be heard on camera claiming that he shot Harris after mistakenly reaching for his gun instead of his taser at the end of a foot race.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tulsaworld.com\/news\/courts\/robert-bates-convicted-of-manslaughter-in-shooting-of-eric-harris\/article_153701c9-e022-5d7e-abcd-088149cd8582.html\">Tulsa World<\/a>, Bates\u2019s lawyer called a psychiatrist to testify that Bates \u201cmistakenly shooting Harris was reasonable given the stress of the situation, and before closing arguments jurors were instructed on the statutory requirements for \u2018excusable homicide.\u2019 \u201d Jurors didn\u2019t buy the argument, agreeing with prosecutors after the 1 1\/2-week trial that Bates was guilty of criminal negligence.<\/p>\n<div class=\"service-members managed-service\">\n<p>Andre Harris, the brother of the slain man, said four years in prison would \u201cteach [Bates] a lesson,\u201d the newspaper reported. \u201cThat place ain\u2019t that nice,\u201d Andre Harris told reporters. \u201cHe said he hopes Bates learns that all lives matter, and he said Bates should not have been on a drug task force chasing supposedly deadly criminals,\u201d the newspaper reported. \u201cNot at 73.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/post-nation\/wp\/2016\/09\/19\/man-fatally-shot-by-tulsa-police-was-unarmed-chief-says-as-disturbing-video-is-released\/?utm_term=.3b2336669092\">http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/post-nation\/wp\/2016\/09\/19\/man-fatally-shot-by-tulsa-police-was-unarmed-chief-says-as-disturbing-video-is-released\/?utm_term=.3b2336669092<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49726\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}