Samuel DuBose: body-camera video shows 360-degree view of police killing

The Guardian ^ | July 31, 2015 | The Guardian

[Responsibility2nd]

Tensing should get a medal, a commendation, and a huge bonus for taking out the trash as he risked his life on the streets.

See post 33.

Either those clips from the actual video have been shopped and doctored, or Tensing really in fact was under assault, was dragged for several seconds, but was able to get a shot off before he was knocked to the ground.

[DoodleDawg]

Where I come from - 'citizens' do not have 60 plus arrests, 13 children by god knows how many baby mama's, drive drunk with suspended licenses, disobey legal and prudent LEO orders and attempt to flee with a gun pointed at their head.

Where I come from none of those are considered violent crimes, or capital offenses, or an indication that the officer or anyone else is in imminent danger of death or bodily injury. So why the need to shoot him?

At best, this cop might be guilty of falsifying a police report.

He killed a man without justifiable cause. At best he should be charged with murder, which is what has happened. At worst he could have been charged with felony murder or aggravated murder. He should count his lucky stars.

But simply because DuBose was black, it's now a huge racist issue. And because Tensing was a cop, the FR "Cops are scum" crowd is blathering on and on and - in effect - are no better than the Black Lives Matter thugs who are also blind to the realities.

It is a big issue because it didn't need to happen. It is a big issue because a man is dead at the hands of a police officer who had no justifiable reason for killing him. It is a big issue because if not for the body cam the officer would have lied his way out of it and his friends would have helped him. All those are reason enough for it to be a big issue without injecting race into it.

[FreedomNotSafety]

These people were not under arrest so therefore they could not be resisting. It’s a game cops like to play in order to detain you. I’m under arrest? No. Then I am free to leave? No. What happens if I leave? You don’t want to do that. Yes I do goodbye.

[DoodleDawg]

Thank you for this second by second breakdown of the facts. I’ve never seen anything that so clearly proves that Tensing was dragged, but was after a few seconds able to fire before he was knocked to the ground.

I watched it several times and didn't see him dragged at any point. It appears that he fired before he fell over.

[Cboldt]

-- It appears that he fired before he fell over. --

I think all the evidence, including the lies, are in agreement on that point.

But notice the other argument being offered in this thread, 60 arrests, uncooperative, etc. - again, not saying this is a winner, but if the cop had argued that instead of something like "shot so he'd stop dragging me," it would be easier for the DA to take a pass on the case.

[miss marmelstein]

It’s a huuuuuuuuuuuuge mistake to drive away from a traffic stop. Do you do it? Try it next time they take you aside for a routine stop. I’ll await with interest what happens.

[Responsibility2nd]

I watched it several times and didn't see him dragged at any point.

OK, he wasn't dragged. He was just hanging on (for dear life) to the car door for 3 seconds and a distance of 20 feet. Normal people call that being dragged. What do you call it?

 

 It appears that he fired before he fell over.

Well DUH! Good thing that he did fire before he fell over. Otherwise he wouldn't have hit his target.

[Moonman62]

but were later dismissed as false by the county prosecutor who charged Tensing with murder.

...

Dismissed by an adversarial prosecutor, but not by a court of justice.

It’s a fact that the car engine was running and in gear, after the officer told the driver to remove his belt and get out of the car. The officer yelled “stop” before shooting, and went to the hospital to get his right arm treated.

[LS]

I haven’t followed this much, but up here in Dayton and in the Cincy area, Deters (the prosecutor) has a very good rep for supporting cops. My guess is that for him to bring this, it’s real.

[miss marmelstein]

This guy had a bottle on the driver’s side. For all I know, he was destined to kill a mother with a child but stopped by a cop. Sorry, no sympathy. Plus, for what he was wearing, he should have been arrested by the fashion police.

[Mr Apple]

See post 44

I watched it several times and didn't see him dragged at any point. It appears that he fired before he fell over.

[Responsibility2nd]

No, it’s all about appeasement.

The Black Lives Matter crowd is screaming for blood. Cincinnati does NOT want to become the next Baltimore. It’s far easier for authorities and the DA to throw some campus cop under the bus than to face bussed in looters and burned down CVS’s.

[Responsibility2nd]

And see post 47.

When you say...I watched it several times and didn't see him dragged at any point. It appears that he fired before he fell over.

I say...

I watched it several times and didn't see him dragged at any point.

OK, he wasn't dragged. He was just hanging on (for dear life) to the car door for 3 seconds and a distance of 20 feet. Normal people call that being dragged. What do you call it?

 

It appears that he fired before he fell over.

Well DUH! Good thing that he did fire before he fell over. Otherwise he wouldn't have hit his target.

[miss marmelstein]

But if you watch the video and listen, the cop was amazingly calm and polite and professional to the driver - calmly taking away the booze, calmly asking about the driver’s license and calmly asking once or twice more. I just don’t see this as an out-of-control cop. Was he? Does he have a history of being out of control?

[petro45acp]

Thank you.

KYPD

[Mr Apple]

Let me put it a different way:

I watched it several times and didn't see him dragged at any point. It appears that he fired before he fell over.

See post 44

[Conscience of a Conservative]

OK, he wasn't dragged. He was just hanging on (for dear life) to the car door for 3 seconds and a distance of 20 feet. Normal people call that being dragged. What do you call it?

Except the car didn't move until after he fired the shot (and even the "analysis" posted above doesn't show otherwise - it shows that Tensing moved 20 feet, but not when). Here's an analysis from Andrew Branca over at Legal Insurrection, who is generally pro-cop in cases like this (note that he was using the longer version of the video, so the timestamps are different):

Here’s a screen cap at 7:06. Note the truck in the left-hand background of the image.

Here’s another screen capture, at 16:13, which appears to be the moment the shot is fired into DuBose’s head (you can see his head snap back if you watch the video frame-by-frame), and you can still see that same truck in the same position:

This would suggest that perhaps the car moving and the dragging of Officer Tensing might not have occurred until after the killing shot was fired.

So no, he was not dragged 20 feet before firing the shot, nor was he hanging on to the car as it moved 20 feet prior to firing the shot. He may have been dragged 20 feet, but it was only AFTER he killed DuBose.

[Conscience of a Conservative]

at 2:43 in the video, DuBose starts his car.

. . .

At 2:46 in the video officer Tensing fires his shot, 3 seconds after DuBose had started his car up and began accelerating

Notice the changing story?

At 2:43, the "analysis" notes that DuBose started his car. Nothing about accelerating, because the video does not show acceleration at this point.

But, at 2:46, the "analysis" states that DuBose had both started his car up and began accelerating three seconds earlier (i.e., at 2:43). The description changed (with no evidence for such a change) simply to fit the justification narrative. In other words, whoever wrote this "analysis" just made it up.

One other thing worth noting - if you watch the video, listen to the audio. You can clearly hear the engine revving as the car accelerates -- after Tensing fired his shot, killing DuBose.

[Responsibility2nd]

So you didn't see it on the video. So What?

I repeat:

OK, he wasn't dragged. He was just hanging on (for dear life) to the car door for 3 seconds and a distance of 20 feet. Normal people call that being dragged. What do you call it?

[Conscience of a Conservative]

I haven’t followed this much, but up here in Dayton and in the Cincy area, Deters (the prosecutor) has a very good rep for supporting cops. My guess is that for him to bring this, it’s real.

Yup, that's the reputation I've heard as well. In my mind, prosecuting this guy IS "supporting cops." Nothing can sink a police department faster than a few "bad apples" screwing it up for the rest of them.