A Tulsa, Oklahoma police officer has been charged in the shooting death of an unarmed Black man in the city of Tulsa.
It was announced in a press conference this afternoon by District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler that Officer Betty Shelby has been charged with manslaughter in the first degree in the death of Terrence Crutcher, whom Shelby shot and killed Friday night.
Crutcher was shot by Shelby with his hands raised in the air as it was captured on helicopter video as shown below.
Crutcher’s SUV broke down, which was why he was approached by the police before he was killed.
The Tulsa killing was the first of a string of deaths of Black men at the hands of police officers across the nation within the past week. On Tuesday, 43 year old Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed by police officers in Charlotte, North Carolina as he sat in his vehicle reading a book. Scott’s death has sparked outrage in the city of Charlotte, igniting violent protests, which as already resulted in a shooting injury to a protester. Yesterday, 21 year old Tawon Boyd died from his injuries three days after a confrontation with Baltimore County police following a domestic dispute.
All of these killings are currently under investigation, nevertheless, yhese killings have created an even larger wedge between authorities and minorities, fanning the flames of distrust on both sides.
