The Tulsa County District Attorney has charged Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby with first-degree criminal manslaughter heat of passion charges in the death of Terence Crutcher.
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Shortly after news of Shelby’s charge was announced, the Tulsa police department took to Facebook to state several protests had begun in the area.
Shelby fatally shot 40-year-old Crutcher after his SUV stopped in a roadway. “The officer responsible for the death of Terence Crutcher had to be brought to justice to be held accountable for her actions”, he said.
After reviewing the evidence, Kunzweiler said he felt the manslaughter charge against Shelby was “warranted”. Shelby is white and Crutcher was black. She is accused of “unlawfully and unnecessarily” shooting Crutcher after he did not comply with her “lawful orders”.
Calling the announcement “a small victory”, terence crutcher’s twin sister, tiffany, says the work is not done.
“Our Tulsa Police Department worked quickly to provide all the information to the District Attorney”, he said.
Crutcher’s death has become yet another flash-point in the civil rights movement in America.
In a recent event in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
She went on to say “We are going to break the chain of injustice”.
If convicted, Shelby could face at least four years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Shelby was also concerned about Crutcher repeatedly reaching toward his pockets because a person with a weapon often touches it to make sure it’s still there, Wood said. It was also just extremely hard to imagine a plausible justification for her decision to shoot; even Donald Trump, who has been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, publicly condemned it, saying that people who “choke” while on duty should not be police officers.
The police have confirmed that Crutcher did not have a gun in his possession at the time of the shooting.
I don’t know if you’ve seen the footage, but if my nearsighted eyes serve me correctly, Shelby shot a man whose hands were in the air. And in 1993, Shelby’s ex-boyfriend filed a restraining order against her after she damaged his vehicle following a break-up. No weapon was found on Crutcher and no weapon was found in his vehicle.
It all started after a 911 call last Friday from a woman who said an abandoned vehicle was blocking the street and a man was running away. The man warned that it was going to blow up, the caller said.
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Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) asked citizens for patience and peace in a statement released after the officer was charged.
