Another black guy murdered by police in America

[mumofone1234]

This video explains it m.youtube.com/watch?v=1xpoBEHndwM

Unbelievable

[mumofone1234]

Should have said unarmed black guy. His car had broken down and he was walking away from the police with both hands up. Footage from the police helicopter shows the cop in the helicopter saying 'ooh look at him. He looks like a bad guy'. Erm, is that because he's black? You can see he's bad from the sky can you?

Turns out this 'bad' guy had no criminal convictions, was at college studying music appreciation and had four children.

[prh47bridge]

Turns out this 'bad' guy had no criminal convictions

He did have criminal convictions. He received a suspended sentence for carrying a weapon and resisting an officer in 1995. He served four years in prison from 2007 to 2011 after being convicted of drug trafficking. He has also had other run ins with the police.

None of that justifies the shooting. The footage certainly looks bad but it needs to be investigated properly.

[prh47bridge]

The video contains some other inaccuracies. I haven't watched it all (need to go to bed!) but their statement as to the police version of events differs from the version I have seen. They also attribute the "bad dude" comment to the husband of the officer who shot Crutcher whereas reports state it was the pilot of the helicopter.

[mumofone1234]

The pilot is her husband

[mumofone1234]

I think you're thinking of the wrong story. There were two black men shot by police over the last couple of days. I'm talking about the one who's car had just broken down. Even the beloved Donald Trump has commented and said he doesn't know wtf the officer was thinking shooting dead an unarmed man who posed no threat

[prh47bridge]

The pilot is her husband

There were two police officers in the helicopter. One of them was the husband of the officer who shot Crutcher. The other was the pilot. Both of them can be heard in the video. The police state that the "bad dude" comment was not made by her husband but by the pilot who has so far not been identified.

I'm talking about the one who's car had just broken down

So am I. I know exactly which shooting we are discussing. We are dealing with the shooting in Tulsa where it is alleged that the victim's car had broken down, although the police say the initial report was of a car stopped in the middle of the road with its engine running and the driver allegedly smoking something. Crutcher's family have said he was turning his life round after a series of run-ins with the law dating back to his teenage years and a recent 4 year prison sentence.

A lot of things are being said about this shooting that are untrue or at least questionable - that Crutcher was high on PCP (possible but not proven), that the tazer didn't work (the police say the tazer and the gun were fired at the same time, so the tazer had no chance to work), that he was a pastor (still being repeated by some news media but this appears to be untrue - a man identified by US media as his pastor says his involvement in the church was singing in the church choir and statements from Crutcher's family appear to agree that this was his only involvement) and so on. People are interpreting the video footage in line with their own agenda, some saying it shows that Crutcher did not put his hand through the car window, others equally adamant that it shows that he did.

As I said, this needs to be investigated properly to establish the facts. If the police officer acted incorrectly she should be prosecuted, as happened with a sherrif's deputy in Tulsa who was convicted of shooting killing an unarmed man earlier this year. Unfortunately, whatever the outcome of the investigation, there will always be those who don't accept it.

[mumofone1234]

Unfortunately there will always be the police brutality apologists

[prh47bridge]

Indeed. If the investigation shows that the officer acted improperly (which is certainly what it looks like on the video) there will be those who continue to believe that she was justified even if she is convicted of murder or manslaughter. Equally, if the investigation shows that she acted correctly, not matter how strong the evidence there will still be those who believe it was murder. Sadly a lot of this breaks along racial lines in America.

[prh47bridge]

The police officer who shot Crutcher has been charged with first degree manslaughter. That means the prosecution say she intended to cause serious physical injury but did not intend to kill Crutcher. In the UK that would be classed as murder but in the US it is only murder if you intend to kill, not if you only intend to cause serious injury. It is now up to a jury to decide.

The fact that the authorities in Tulsa are willing to prosecute police officers who kill people and juries are willing to convict is probably a factor in the fact that protests following Crutcher's death have been peaceful.

[mumofone1234]

I wonder what the penalty for that is

[prh47bridge]

Apparently the minimum sentence is 4 years in prison. I haven't been able to find anything about a maximum sentence. This is what Oklahoma calls an 85% crime, which means that the prisoner is not eligible for parole until they have served 85% of the sentence.