She won’t be convicted.
Tulsa officer charged with manslaughter for fatal shooting seen on video
TULSA, Okla. (Reuters) - The white Tulsa police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man
was charged with manslaughter on Thursday and a warrant has been issued for her arrest, Tulsa
County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler said.
Officer Betty Shelby was charged with first-degree manslaughter for the death of Terence
Crutcher, 40. The incident, captured on widely broadcast police videos, is one in a series
that has raised questions of racial bias in U.S. policing.
“Although she is charged, she is presumed innocent until a judge or jury determines otherwise,”
Kunzweiler said. “I don’t know why
things happen in this world the way they do.”
Crutcher, whose car had broken down and was blocking a road, can be seen in two videos provided
by Tulsa police on Monday with his hands in clear view before he was shot by Shelby.
A lawyer for Shelby has said she acted because she feared for her life, believing Crutcher was
reaching into his vehicle for a weapon during the encounter, which took place last Friday.
Tulsa police have said Crutcher was unarmed and there was no weapon in the vehicle. In a bid
for transparency, they released the videos, one of which was taken from a police helicopter
and the other from a dashboard camera in a patrol car.
The U.S. Justice Department has launched a separate investigation to see if the officers on
the scene violated Crutcher’s civil rights.
She won't be convicted.
I hope you are right here. First of all this officer had no idea what this man might do. Next I will use the old axiom.
Hindsight is better than foresight.
I wonder what the law enforcement should do in this instance. If it was suspected a person was going to detonate an explosive device, reaching for something. If it was a device, the officer is a hero. If it was not. the officer is condemned. Most of the public aided and abetted by a corrupt and spite driven media fail to put themselves in the officer's shoes.