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Choirboy Stranded Motorist's Roadside Execution by Tulsa Police

Rejected submission by -- OriginalOwner_ http://tinyurl.com/OriginalOwner at 2016-09-21 20:49:23
News

from the no-aid-rendered dept.

The headline of The Daily Beast sums it up.

Terence Crutcher Walked to Police for Help. They Shot Him Dead. [thedailybeast.com]

It appears his only crime was being a large, black man who had the misfortune of having his car break down on a public street. He paid for that with his life.

[...]According to the New York Daily News, [nydailynews.com] "[Tulsa police officer Betty] Shelby's dash cam was never activated because she never turned on her top lights or sirens, so there is no video footage showing the two minutes that Shelby first arrived to the scene and interacted with Crutcher." The incident was captured by the second squad car's dash camera and a video taken from the police helicopter hovering overhead.

heavy.com continues [heavy.com]

The video [of the September 16 events, released by police,] shows [Terence] Crutcher, [a 40 year old father of 4 with no police record,] walking toward his SUV with his arms held in the air, as Shelby follows behind him with her gun drawn and a second officer approaches with his Taser drawn. [Crutcher] has his back to her and the other officer. Crutcher appears to lean toward the SUV with Shelby at his side and the other officer behind him. A single shot can then be heard and other officers run toward the SUV.

Crutcher then collapses to the ground and Shelby yells into the radio, "Shots fired!" [as if to indicate that someone other than her was doing the shooting, instead of saying something which honestly reflected the actual circumstances like "Suspect down".

[...]"His hands were in the air from all views", [said Pastor Rodney Goss, who has viewed the footage]. "It was not apparent at any angle from any point that he lunged, came toward, aggressively attacked, or made any sudden movements that would have been considered a threat or life-threatening toward the officer."

Goss added that he did not see a weapon. In the video, one officer can be seen deploying his Taser and the other officer then fires her gun.

[...]"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.

[...]Shelby has been accused of using excessive force twice during her career. [...] Both of those complaints were determined to be unfounded, [KOTV] reports. Details of those cases were not immediately available.

[Betty Shelby's] attorney, Scott Wood, told [NYTimes] that Shelby thought Crutcher had a weapon. He also said Crutcher "had acted erratically, refused to comply with several orders, tried to put his hand in his pocket, and reached inside his car window before he was shot."

These claims are easily dismissed by those who have analyzed the videos; a closeup of the *closed* window of Crutcher's car with a streak of his blood [theintercept.com] show that Shelby's statement is a bald-faced lie.

[Crutcher's] family says his SUV stalled as he headed home from class at Tulsa Community College, where he had been studying music appreciation. Crutcher was also involved in his church, including singing in the choir.

The police have claimed that Crutcher died in a hospital. The facts are that they stood by and watched the life drain out of him, rendering no aid.


Original Submission