Title: Video Released Showing Police Kill Innocent Unarmed Father With His Hands Up Source:
Free Thought Project URL Source:http://thefreethoughtproject.com/br ... ll-pastor/#ClKIk8g2VO15EQAr.99 Published:Sep 19, 2016 Author:Claire Bernish Post Date:2016-09-21 10:38:31 by Deckard Keywords:None Views:4064 Comments:26
Tulsa, OK — Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby fatally shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher Friday night when he experienced car trouble after leaving night classes at Tulsa Community College — and now, dash cam video of the shooting shows the man’s arms were in the air when Shelby took his life.
“His hands were in the air from all views,” pastor Rodney Goss of the Morning Star Baptist Church, who viewed footage from both dash cams and a police helicopter prior to the public release, told the Tulsa World. “It was not apparent from any angle at any point he lunged, came toward, aggressively attacked, or made any sudden movements that would have been considered a threat or life-threatening toward the officer.”
Police had thus far claimed Crutcher — whose SUV broke down in the middle of the road — approached the officers aggressively while refusing to obey commands to raise his arms, an action the helicopter pilot notes would perhaps be worthy of deploying the Taser.
“He’s got his hands up for her now,” the pilot says of Crutcher, adding a moment later the man appears uncooperative and may need to be tased.
Officer Tyler Turnbough then deployed his Taser against Crutcher, but Shelby fired before the electric jolt could even knock him to the ground. Video from one patrol car’s dash can and that as seen from a police helicopter circling above clearly shows Crutcher not acting aggressively as the cops surround and then murder him.
“It wasn’t a matter of minutes, it was a matter of moments,” Goss noted. “As quick as the officer released the Taser from his hand, Terence was falling to the ground having already been shot.”
Worse, he explained, the officers seemed not to treat their victim with any concern, and made no moves to provide first aid after the tasing and shooting.
“After having been shot, a couple minutes it appears, but it seemed like a lifetime, went by before anyone actually checked with him as far as pulse — as far as whatever the case may be,” Goss said.
Police on scene indeed appear infinitely more concerned with the panicked Shelby than they do with the man they just shot for no apparent reason, and footage bears out Goss’ statement it takes minutes for officers even to approach the dying man. As Crutcher lies mortally wounded on the ground, officers back away like frightened children, supporting Shelby by the arms. As the helicopter circles overhead, audio of the pilot shows he is quite startled by the inexplicable shooting.
Goss explained to the World that Crutcher moved slowly and deliberately throughout his brief interaction with the police.
But the cops’ predilection to employ force might have been a forgone conclusion, as he said, one officer is overheard in audio inexplicably describing Crutcher — the father of four, who was taking a night class in music appreciation — as “one bad dude.”
As Goss plainly summarized, “There was a perception problem before there was ever a shooting.”
Although authorities had refused to say whether or not a weapon was recovered at the scene, Crutcher’s twin sister, Tiffany insists her brother would not have been armed.
“One fact I do know is that my brother was unarmed,” she asserted in a news conference Saturday. “I’m just devastated.”
In a press conference prior to the release of the video he called “very disturbing” and “hard to watch,” Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan finally confirmed, “I’m going to tell you right now, right now, there was no gun on the suspect or in the suspect’s vehicle.”
Crutcher’s family, their attorneys, local pastors, and several activists were permitted to view the footage before police released it to the public.
“We wanted them to see it before it was released so they wouldn’t be blindsided by it,” Tulsa Police Sgt. Shane Tuell confirmed, according toABC News. “We wanted to be able to have that intimate time with them, with their attorney, to see if they had any questions or concerns.
“With something of this magnitude, we’re trying an approach that we believe is necessary to further that transparency.”
Shelby, on the force since 2011, and Turnbough, an officer since 2009 — who were named by police on Sunday — encountered Crutcher’s stalled SUV as they were responding to another call. Both have been given the paid vacation, otherwise known as administrative leave, customarily ‘rewarded’ after the use of fatal force.
“We have to let justice take its course,” Goss said prior to the announcement the Department of Justice would conduct an investigation into the fatal shooting.
Activists gathered outside the Tulsa County Courthouse to protest the killing of Crutcher and the ballooning epidemic of police violence, while community leaders urged the public to remain calm upon release of footage.
“Protests are not a problem,” Chief Jordan told the press. “I grew up in the 60s and it’s a very valid way of people to protect their rights.”
Whether calm and justice will ultimately prevail hinges on whether or not Shelby receives proportionate punishment for taking the life of a wholly and utterly innocent man whose only crime — apparently a capital offense — was having car trouble at an inopportune moment.
This is what complying with police in America looks like.
[Editor’s note: While it was originally reported by multiple sources Terence Crutcher was a pastor, we have yet to confirm that information and have corrected the article to reflect this.]
And once again we only hear one biased side of the story. The police cannot say shit because of an "ongoing investigation". By the time the truth is known, people riot, loot and burn, blaming police brutality.
And once again we only hear one biased side of the story. The police cannot say shit because of an "ongoing investigation".
Sure thing boot-licker.
In a press conference prior to the release of the video he called “very disturbing” and “hard to watch,” Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan finally confirmed, “I’m going to tell you right now, right now, there was no gun on the suspect or in the suspect’s vehicle.”
Unfortunately, this case has all the earmarks of an event open to a variety of interpretations - much like the Trayvon Martin case - and which will likely lead to violently opposed conclusions by various parties we're all too familiar with.
Crutcher was not a rational actor. He may well have been high. His van was parked well across the middle of the road with the engine idling. A 911 caller said that he appeared to be smoking something. If you or I had a gun trained on us by a cop, we'd damn well do exactly as the officer said to do. We wouldn't amble around aimlessly while being told to halt and instead head for the vehicle. Something was wrong with this guy.
Then there is the window Crutcher was said to have reached through. That's a key point. There is a driver's side window which is clearly closed and is splashed with Crutscher's blood. There is however a left passenger window which is open. Even though there's video, exactly what happened here is unclear. This is going to go to intent.
Crutcher had a bad history. We're again going to be treated to the twin narratives: the upstanding community college student vs. the bad boy dope fiend. One story will be presented to the court. The other not so much.
As previously reported, Crutcher has a criminal record that includes more than a dozen encounters with law enforcement. In at least four cases, officers employed use of force, including a Taser in 2012, according to records.
A 2012 probable cause affidavit in a misdemeanor case against Crutcher states that his father arrived at the scene in north Tulsa where Terence Crutcher was being arrested on public intoxication and obstruction complaints and told officers his son had “an ongoing problem” with PCP.
An officer used a Taser on Crutcher twice during that arrest while he was face down on the ground, based on the officer’s claim that Crutcher did not comply with at least three orders to show his hands.
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections told the World on Tuesday that Crutcher had been incarcerated on a drug-related conviction for nearly four years and was released on parole in 2011. His supervision ended in May of this year. Court records indicate that a judge issued a bench warrant for Crutcher’s arrest Sept. 1 for failure to pay fines related to his cases.
Crutcher’s attorneys say his history is not relevant, and the Tulsa Police Department has acknowledged that officers weren’t aware of his background during the encounter.
