Terence Crutcher, Another Innocent Black Man Killed. This Has To Stop!
Warning this article contains videos of graphic violence as well as inappropriate language.If you are easily offended, stop reading now.
On September 16, 2016, in broad daylight, The Tulsa, Oklahoma Police murdered an innocent unarmed black American. What the fuck is wrong with our country where this keeps happening. This has to stop and stop right now!
Let’s look at the facts. According to News reports this entire incident started when Two 911 calls brought officers to the scene about 7:30 p.m. Friday.
The 911 caller from a woman who told the 911 dispatch that an abandoned vehicle was blocking the street and a man was running away, warning that it was going to blow up.
Warning that it was about to blow up? What kind of bullshit is this? And how the fuck would she know that? Was it on fire? Did it have a big sign on it that said “I am a bomb?”
Certainly, I would have thought that the 911 dispatcher would have asked similar questions or was it the fact that a large black male was involved, somehow the answer to all these questions?
The second 911 caller reported: “Somebody left their vehicle running in the middle of the street with their doors wide open,” the caller said. “The doors are open, the vehicle is still running. It’s an SUV. It’s in the middle of the street, it’s blocking traffic.”
The second 911 call doesn’t sound anyway nearly as sinister.
There are several mechanical issues that could cause your car or SUV’s engine to still run, but could still be dead on the road. Transmission troubles, Drive shaft issues, universal joints, rear differential issues, brakes locked up, etc.
Allegedly, according to the first officer (A female police officer) who arrived on the scene, she wasn’t even responding to this particular call, she was supposedly heading to a domestic violence call and she just happen upon the scene.
This statement raises a lot of red flags to me. If this Police officer was on the way to a domestic violence call, which is fairly serious as many people are seriously injured or killed in domestic violence issues every year what would stop for a vehicle stopped in the road? This statement requires a lot more investigation to confirm its validity.
According this Police Officer, She asked Crutcher whether the car belonged to him but got no response, the attorney said. Crutcher began walking toward her with his hands in his pockets. She politely asked Crutcher to take his hands out of his pocket while they were speaking. “He does comply and puts his hands out of his pocket, and then puts his hands up in the air, which she thought was a little bit strange under the circumstances,”
What is so fucking strange about this? All you have to do is put yourself in a black males shoes, and it would become perfectly clear why he would raise his hands up in the air. Many black males have been killed by Police Officers all over the country for far less offences than an SUV stopped in the middle of the road. I actually think that this was a good move on his part.
Once again, according the Police Officer, Crutcher continued to ignore Shelby’s questions about the vehicle and at one point walks toward the back of the police cruiser and puts his hands back in his pockets, the attorney said. Shelby called dispatch and was intent on arresting him because she thought he was under the influence of something, he said. She drew her gun and ordered Crutcher to get on his knees, which he refused to do, Wood said. He instead walked toward his car.
Sometime after or during this a bunch more Police Officers arrived upon the scene.
OK, only a few years ago, this would have been just another case of the Police Officers word against another dead man, who couldn’t speak for himself.
But in this age of cameras and video, we have an entirely new perspective. Here are two videos posted by the Tulsa, Police Department, that show an entirely different story.
The First video, is from a Police helicopter flying overhead. The pilot can be heard saying that he looks like a bad dude, referring to Terence Crutcher. So the Police helicopter pilot flying overhead, can tell that Terence Crutcher is a bad dude.
Here’s a photo of that “Bad Dude”with his twin sister.
. (Courtesy of Crutcher Family/Parks & Crump, LLC via AP)
Terence was certainly a big dude, but he doesn’t look scary to me. Exactly what doe’s a “Bad Dude” look like anyway?
Here is a photo of a really, really, bad dude. He is arguably one of the most despicable Americans in modern times. Doe’s he look scary? Doe’s he look like a bad dude?
This is Timothy McVeigh, The Oklahoma City bomber. Oh wait! He’s not a black male is he?
What the fuck doe’s a bad dude look like anyway?
The videos clearly show that Terence Crutcher has his hands up in the air, and he was obviously unarmed. Furthermore, he posed no threat whatsoever to the Police Officers arriving upon the scene.
{UPDATE} The Tulsa Police claimed that they thought that Terence Crutcher was going to reach for something inside his vehicle.
Thus is an outright lie told by the Tulsa Police Department. Terence Crutcher could not have possibly been reaching for something inside his vehicle, because his hands were up in the air, and more importantly, the windows on his vehicle were closed. This is clearly obvious on the video.
Another thing that strikes me as strange. Since when does a vehicle stuck in the middle of the road deserve, or warrant such a massive police response anyway?
The Police did note that no weapons were found on Terence’s person or vehicle. Considering that Terence’s hands were up and he was no threat who gives a fuck if he has 274 weapons inside his vehicle and 7 weapons hidden upon his person. He was still obviously no threat to the police, considering that his hands were up in the air.
The Police Officers statements, and the videos obviously don’t match reality.
In the end, Terence Crutcher lay on the ground for two entire minutes before the Police came over and started rendering aid, by then it was too late. Terence Crutcher would die from his gunshot wounds.
Evidently, the female Police Officer needed comforting more then the man laying on the pavement with his lifes blood flowing out of him until he had no more to give..
The State of Oklahoma, and the U.S. Justice Department are investigating this case, as well they should.
Did the Police over react out of fear?
Did this tragedy occur because of underlying prejudice?
Was it intentional?
Was it an accident?
Was it something else?
All these questions need to be answered and answered soon. Terence Cruthcer’s family and friends deserve an answer, The State of Oklahoma deserves an answer, And the entire American public deserves an answer as well.
For all those conservative right-wing nuts who call Black Lives Matter (BLM) a hate group, this is a smoke screen and couldn’t be further from the truth. I don’t remember them standing for the injustice of unarmed black males being killed by Police Officers at a ratio of 3:1 over white males. They said the same thing about Martin Luther King Jr. as well. They were wrong then, and they are wrong now. Get over it, just because it may be uncomfortable for you, doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
Black Lives Matter stepped up and brought this injustice into the light. The rest of us need to stand up, pay attention and give all the support we can offer. This is not only the right thing to do, It is the American thing to do. We are all human beings and color has literally nothing to do with anything.
Lastly, for all the wing nuts who try to co-opt the Black Lives Matter message with such fucking nonsense as “All Lives Matter”, or “Police Lives Matter”, or whatever else, they are missing the entire fucking point.
Try telling the Susan G. Korman Breast Cancer Foundation that “All Cancers Matter”
If “All Lives Matter” was such a huge concern, why isn’t everyone, literally everyone, out in the streets, in mass protesting lack of affordable healthcare, poverty, lack of a living wage, injustice, and whatever else that affects all of us?
This bullshit has to stop, and it has to stop right now! If the black community doe’s not trust the Police, and the Police do not trust the black community, there will never be any justice or peace.
Don’t you get it? As a society, if one segment suffers, we all suffer. This would all stop literally right now if all Americans, Young, Old, Millennials, White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native Americans, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, and and everyone else in between took to the streets and peacefully protested, as well as contact their elected officials, and actually got involved in local matters. The message is simple in it’s simplicity, Just demand equal justice for all.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not Anti-Police, not at all. There are many, many, outstanding Police Officers across the country that go way above and beyond the call of duty. These fine Police Officers deserve to be acknowledged and rewarded for their fine work.
However, There is a such thing as the “Blue Wall of Silence”. The blue wall of silence, also blue code and blue shield, are terms used in the United States to denote the unwritten rule that exists among Police Officers not to report on a colleague’s errors, misconducts, or crimes, including police brutality.
All it takes is for there to be only one or two bad cops on the entire police force for the community they serve to perceive that all the Police Officers to be bad.
If you see something – say something, should apply to Police Officers as well. Believe me if they did, their lives and everyone else’s life would be a hell of lot easier.
People, this is really stupidly obvious….. Some people should not be doing certain jobs, especially ones that requires you to carry a firearm and enforce the law.
If you are xenophobic, racist, bigoted, trigger happy or drunk with power, you should not be a Police Officer. Just as certain personality traits would preclude you from being a doctor, soldier or lawyer.
Seriously, think about that for a minute.
Whatever happened to the motto of Police Departments everywhere, to protect and serve?
{UPDATE} District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced on Thursday, 09/22/2016, “In the matter of the death of Terence Crutcher, I determined that the filing of the felony crime of manslaughter in the first degree against Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby is warranted,” Kunzweiler said.
As Always,
I Am,
Tom Dye, The Safety Guy
