Police Chief & DA Accused of Throwing Officer Under Bus to Avoid Race Riot
While left-wing slacktivists made a big stink out of footage showing Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby firing upon one Terence Crutcher, they were quiet about claims by her attorney that her superiors threw her under the bus in order to avoid continued outrage over the affair. If anything’s an outrage, however, it’s that an officer who defended themselves from a belligerent suspect found to be under the influence of PCP:
“The revelation that homicide detectives found Betty Shelby’s shooting of Terence Crutcher to be a justifiable homicide, and that Jordan and Kunzweiler went around that finding in order to bring Shelby up on charges to avoid rioting by an angry mob is stunning. If should be a career-ending collusion for both men if the allegations are substantiated.
Officer Shelby shot Crutcher, a serial drug abuser she believed (correctly) to be under the influence of PCP when he ignored repeated commands and reached into the open driver’s side window.
That’s right: the debate over whether the vehicle’s windows were up or down is over. Terence Crutcher did, in fact, reach into his SUV.
[Tulsa Police Homicide Sgt. Dave] Walker testified that [Tusla police officer Tyler] Turnbough deployed his Taser and Shelby fired her service weapon once they saw Crutcher reach into his SUV, which had stopped in the middle of 36th Street North, with his left hand. He said the driver’s-side window, like the others, appeared to be about halfway down. None of the windows were tinted, he said.
Those arguing that Crutcher’s windows were all the way up or all the way down (myself included) were all apparently wrong, and a person can easily reach instead a vehicle with its window halfway down.”
A judge has ordered the Tulsa police officer who shot and killed a 40-year-old black man in September to stand trial for manslaughter, according to the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office
Officer Betty Shelby appeared in court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday, where a judge said there was enough evidence for her to stand trial after reviewing police helicopter and dashcam video from the scene, according to the district attorney’s office.
Shelby’s defense team was not surprised with the judge’s ruling because “the evidence is viewed in a light most favorable to the state” and “there’s a presumption that the state’s evidence will be stronger when presented at trial,” according to attorney Scott Wood.
On Sept. 16, Shelby shot and killed Terence Crutcher after she came across his SUV, which was parked in the middle of a two-lane roadway with the engine still running. Crutcher ignored dozens of commands Shelby gave him, Wood told ABC News after the incident. The officer then shot Crutcher as he allegedly tried to reach his arm into the open driver’s side window, Wood said.
Tulsa Police Department
Video released by the Tulsa Police Department shows the moments before 40-year-old Terence Crutcher was shot by a police officer Friday night.more +
Police video from the scene showed that Crutcher had his hands up walking towards an SUV as an officer points a gun at him. Then he appears to lower his hands before the shooting, according to video.
The Crutcher family has maintained that the window was closed.
Police said he was high on drugs at the time and acting erratically. The medical examiner found that he had PCP in his system.
Lead homicide detective for the Tulsa Police Department, Sgt. Dave Walker, was the first to testify in Tuesday’s hearing. Walker said that Shelby’s interviews matched the statements of other officers who were on the scene on Sept. 16. Walker added that he believes Shelby feared for her life when she shot Crutcher, ABC Tulsa affiliate KTUL reported.
Shelby and Tulsa Officer Tyler Turnbough, who arrived shortly before the shooting, both said they were fearful of Crutcher, according to Walker. When Crutcher, who had his hands in the air, dropped his left arm and moved toward the partially open window of his SUV, Turnbough deployed a Taser at nearly the same time Shelby fired her gun at Crutcher, Walker said.
The Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office said that Shelby overreacted, and DA Steve Kunzweiler charged her with first-degree manslaughter.
Shelby reacted “unreasonably by escalating the situation from a confrontation” with Crutcher, according to an affidavit by an investigator with the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office. Shelby became “emotionally involved” to the point that she overreacted, the affidavit states, adding that she was “not able to see any weapons or bulges indicating a weapon was present.”
No I am not in denial!
I carried a badge and a gun for many years to protect people like you from the scum of society, and I never met any officers that were members of the Klan.
If you want to buy into the false rhetoric of the Al Sharptons of the world, and believe their hate fueled diatribe, then thank the police officers that are on duty every day to protect your right to be wrong.
What have you ever done to be of service to your country or community?
And the way to continue to feed the racial tension is to paint all police officers as racists, and all black people as victims.
Serving the homeless is very admirable, and I appreciate your being involved in that endeavor, but it is not the same as risking your life, and the future of your family, to maintain order in a violent society.
It seems to me, that the selections and standards and the training regime were BOTH sadly lacking. It is her fault for taking a job she is not qualified for,,,, BUT, it is much more the fault of the liberal, PC hiring policies that put gender over ability to to a dangerous job.. Let her go and arrest the lawgivers, who put those PC policies in place because those policies failed both her and the victim.
And what do you call black police officers? Are they racists, or just Uncle Toms? Have they given up the right to call themselves black because they have chosen to serve their community?
What about black police officers that shoot black suspects? What about black police officers that shoot white suspects?
Oh yes… the land of second guessing!! To do so from the luxury of your desk that is safe from harm as police and guards screen people who walk into your building.
I can see if she worked in Mayberry where everyone loved Andy and Barney. But we are in a time of crisis where people are ambushing and attacking the police actively trying to kill them.
But cops today, clearly, have to wait until they gun is exposed and pointed in their direction before they can even think about defending their lives.
It seems that we are now at a point where the bad guys gets a free shot at the police before the cop can possibly be justified in shooting back.
While I would have liked to see her stay behind cover and wait for him to show a gun…. if I were on a jury, it would be hard to convict a cop over shooting a PCP freak.
No I am not in denial!
I carried a badge and a gun for many years to protect people like you from the scum of society, and I never met any officers that were members of the Klan.
If you want to buy into the false rhetoric of the Al Sharptons of the world, and believe their hate fueled diatribe, then thank the police officers that are on duty every day to protect your right to be wrong.
What have you ever done to be of service to your country or community?
Michael Jett about to feed the homeless today in 2 hours as a matter of fact.
She’s being used as a scapegoat. Shame on you Tulsa Police Department.
And the way to continue to feed the racial tension is to paint all police officers as racists, and all black people as victims.
Serving the homeless is very admirable, and I appreciate your being involved in that endeavor, but it is not the same as risking your life, and the future of your family, to maintain order in a violent society.
It seems to me, that the selections and standards and the training regime were BOTH sadly lacking. It is her fault for taking a job she is not qualified for,,,, BUT, it is much more the fault of the liberal, PC hiring policies that put gender over ability to to a dangerous job.. Let her go and arrest the lawgivers, who put those PC policies in place because those policies failed both her and the victim.
Michael Jett
And what do you call black police officers? Are they racists, or just Uncle Toms? Have they given up the right to call themselves black because they have chosen to serve their community?
What about black police officers that shoot black suspects? What about black police officers that shoot white suspects?
Oh yes… the land of second guessing!! To do so from the luxury of your desk that is safe from harm as police and guards screen people who walk into your building.
I can see if she worked in Mayberry where everyone loved Andy and Barney. But we are in a time of crisis where people are ambushing and attacking the police actively trying to kill them.
But cops today, clearly, have to wait until they gun is exposed and pointed in their direction before they can even think about defending their lives.
It seems that we are now at a point where the bad guys gets a free shot at the police before the cop can possibly be justified in shooting back.
While I would have liked to see her stay behind cover and wait for him to show a gun…. if I were on a jury, it would be hard to convict a cop over shooting a PCP freak.
so easy to be armchair quarterbacks..and judge by “Guess work”..
Remove him from the bench and let him cry with the snowflakes!