Following the death of Samuel DuBose after what should have been an innocuous traffic stop, both Kidd and Weibel corroborated Officer Tensing’s claims that he had been “dragged” by DuBose’s auto, which is what prompted him to shoot the unarmed 43-year old.
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“These officers have been truthful and honest about what happened and no charges are warranted”, Deters said.
The prosecutor, who said he was shocked when he first saw the video, was adamant that DuBose, who is black, had not acted aggressively toward Tensing, who is white. In one of the videos, Lindenschmidt can be heard recounting Tensing’s version of events.
In the blink of an eye, a gun pops into view and DuBose slumps over in his seat. The auto then rolls down the road as Tensing chases after it. Prisoners were not shown any news coverage of Tensing’s indictment so as not to inflame emotions, according to Hamilton County court and jail services division commander, Maj.
“It’s incredible. And so senseless”, Deters said while announcing the charges Wednesday.
“I think we saw this in Baltimore, with the prosecutor in Baltimore and we are seeing it in Cincinnati”, Fitch says. However, during the stop something went horribly wrong and Dubose was shot in the head by Tensing.
“License plate pullovers should not result in loss of life”.
“I mean this is, in the vernacular, a pretty chicken crap stop”.
Officer: “Did you see him get dragged?” The family’s attorney, Mark O’Mara, said in email Friday that they are “still concerned with the initial rendition of facts given by the officers”, but he said the family respects the grand jury’s decision.
While the university paid out almost $3 million to settle civil claims related to their deaths, no criminal charges were laid, BuzzFeed reported. The incident was the latest in a string of deaths of black men at the hands of police in the past year, including Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Eric Garner in New York City, Freddie Gray in Baltimore and Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina. The Fraternal Order of Police in Cincinnati did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the content of the videos. Some are right, some are wrong.
People in the courtroom had erupted into cheers and clapped when Tensing’s bail was set at $1 million, drawing the ire of Judge Megan Shanahan.
In May 2014 – less than a month after Tensing joined the University of Cincinnati Police Department – Tensing was engaged in a heated exchange with two men after pulling their auto over because he said their bumper was dragging, according to ABC affiliate WCPO-TV in Cincinnati. He will be arraigned at 10 a.m. EDT on Thursday in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas and could face the possibility of life in prison if convicted. The prosecutor said the video instead seemed to show that the officer had fell backward after shooting DuBose, and that the victim may have fallen forward on the gas pedal afterward.
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Mathews said he has received calls from across the nation with offers to help Tensing.
