The videos are clear-Terence had his hands in the air, and posed no threat to those present-right up until one of the officers gunned him down, and then her four companions watched him bleed to death in the street, making no attempt to render aid.
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Tulsa Police Sergeant Shane Tuell said they allowed community leaders to view the footage because he didn’t want people to be “blindsided” by it. Crutcher lowers his hands and seems to reach into the vehicle, and then is seen falling to the ground. Unfortunately, as is common with these kinds of cases, it still might be some time before whatever “justice” Police Chief Jordan has promised comes to fruition. Tulsa’s Black Lives Matter chapter held a protest Monday outside Tulsa County Courthouse ahead of the police news conference to unveil the video of the shooting. The Department of Justice will open an civil rights investigation into the shooting, as well as recommendations of whether criminal charges should be filed against the officers. As Crutcher approaches the driver’s side of the SUV, three male officers walk up and Crutcher appears to lower his hands and place them on the vehicle.
Crutcher’s twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, has also insisted her brother didn’t have a gun.
The fatal police shooting of an unarmed Oklahoma man could be seen in video released by police Monday. “We’re treated as I guess criminals, suspects that they fear”. She has been placed on administrative leave, they said.
“We saw that Terence did not have any weapon,”said the family’s attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons”.
“That looks like a bad dude, too”, the helicopter pilot is heard saying over the intercom.
“We don’t know if there was a weapon in the vehicle or not”, Mackenzie says.
In a statement, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma said a Justice Department probe would determine whether a federal civil rights violation occurred after a “comprehensive review” of the shooting. After the video was released, #TerenceCrutcher began trending on Twitter. The victim’s sister is demanding that charges are pressed against the officer responsible.
The Tulsa Police Department’s video, which was captured from helicopter and dashboard cams in the police cars, and made public after it was shown to Crutcher’s family, has sparked nationwide outrage.
A police officer shot and killed a black man who ignored repeated requests to put up his hands before reaching into an SUV that was stalled in the middle of a street, the police department said.
Authorities say Crutcher died at a hospital after the shooting.
He said Tulsa police drew their own conclusions about Crutcher.
Police spokeswoman Jeanne MacKenzie said Saturday that Crutcher refused the officers’ commands to put his hands up.
Tulsa resident Mark Whited, who was among the protesters, said more should be done to “bridge the mistrusts” between police and citizens.
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Police originally claimed that 40-year-old Terence Crutcher was not cooperating with officers when they arrived for a routine traffic stop on Friday night.
