A jury has acquitted a white Oklahoma police officer who was charged in the shooting death of an unarmed black man last September in Tulsa.
Officer Betty Shelby was seen on video fatally shooting 40-year-old Terence Crutcher as he stood with his hands raised next to his broken down SUV. Shelby insisted she fired her gun out of fear because he was not cooperating with her demands to lie on the ground. She also believed he was on PCP, which a medical examiner later confirmed. Another officer used a Taser on him and then Shelby fired her weapon as he appeared to reach inside the SUV for what she believed to be a gun. It was later determined that he was not armed.
Demonstrators gathered outside the courtroom Wednesday night in peaceful protest as the not-guilty verdict was delivered. (CBS News)
FASHO THOUGHTS:
- The family of the father of four is devastated by the verdict.
- About 100 protesters were outside the courtroom chanting “No Justice, No Peace. No Racist Police.”
- The prosecutor argued that Crutcher’s hands were up and Officer Shelby was too quick to fire her weapon.
Source: Radio One / Don Juan Fasho
#WTFasho TULSA POLICE SHOOTING: Cop Acquitted was originally published on wiznation.com
