Courtesy of WCPO:
UC police officer Ray Tensing's body camera video clearly shows that he committed "murder" when he shot and killed an unarmed black motorist at a traffic stop, prosecutor Joe Deters said Wednesday.
The shocking video shows Tensing grab the outside door latch on 43-year-old Sam DuBose's car after DuBose couldn't produce a driver's license.
Tensing tells DuBose to take his seat belt off.
As Tensing pulls the door open a few inches, DuBose pulls it close and says, "I didn't do nothing, man."
As DuBose turns the key and revs the engine, Tensing pulls his gun, shouts, "Stop! Stop!" and shoots DuBose in the head through the open window.
Showing the video publicly for the first time, Deters called it an "asinine, senseless shooting," and announced that a grand jury had indicted Tensing for murder.
I've watched this video about three times now, and there is really no other way to interpret other than a police officer becoming upset with a non-compliant driver and then firing at his head to keep him from "getting away."
But there was no place for that young man to go. The officer had his name, had his license plate number, and there were other police on the scene.
I don't even think Fox News could spin this in the cop's favor.
Personally I hope they throw the book at this cop, and then use this video as a training tool for rookie cops to teach them what NOT to do.
What Cincy has been stressing, this was NOT a city policeman, this was a campus rent-a-cop. You have to wonder exactly how much weapons training he actually had. Just about anyone can join a campus "force."
ReplyDeletebtw, are you aware that our military bases AREN'T guarded by MPs anymore? Went to both Ft. Knox & Ft. Campbell--rent-a-cops there, too.
Military bases have used rent-a-cops for decades. When I lived in San Diego in the '70s, MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot) used MPs (marines). The Navy boot camp next door used Wackenhut security.
DeleteI do not know if UC has a training program like IU in Indiana, but there they recruit cadets from the student body and train them to be police. My daughter was one for a year but did not like the attention her uniform gave her nor the reactions of the people as she walked her beat. Cadets are not allowed to use weapons, they have mace but nothing else except a radio. The officers in the academy have weapons and after a year a cadet can continue and do the full police academy, just like regular cops outside of campus do. I doubt UC has a program of this kind and I a pretty sure they are going to get rid of their police department after this murder. They need to as the other two cops at the scene LIED about what they saw to cover up what Tensing did...
DeleteThis video brings back a bad memory from more than 30 years ago.
DeleteI was the shift supervisor at a fast food restaurant. We had large crowds of junior high and high school aged kids on the weekend nights,so the owner decided to have a private security firm send a rent-a-cop to try to "control" things. They sent some scrawny old man about sixty. About 5 ft 4' tall and maybe 120 lbs dripping wet, with a crew cut and full of himself. The first night he showed up he pulled me outside to tell me in private how he was going to "run his operation here" or some other such shit. He showed me all his gear and wanted me to tell him all about the crimes we were having. I thought he was a Barney Fife so I told him to just stay out of the way and BOLO for the bathroom sink pooper (and I described this in detail to him.)
On the second or third night the rent-a-cop was there a boy maybe 12 or 13 did a grab and run with some food at the counter. The rent-a-cop chased the kid out the door and drew his gun yelling "Stop or I'll shoot!" Luckily the kid stopped and no shots were fired.
I ran out into the parking lot and the rent a cop had a kid maybe 80 lbs held at gunpoint "under arrest" in front of several families with young children.
Officer Rentacop was yelling for me to call the police, so the kid could be taken to jail. I told him to stay calm and the police would be on the way. I reminded him the police station was only about six blocks away. The kid was about to cry and I suggested the rent-a-cop could ask the kid to sit on the curb and wait for the police, and holster his gun so the police wouldn't be too excited. They both did this.
I called the police and told them what the real problem was (nutter with a gun), then called the restaurant owner and told him to get his ass down here and talk to the angry witnesses. There were probably 50 people watching out the windows and we luckily did not see this kid gunned down for what back then was less than $2.00 worth of burgers and fries. That was the last of the rent-a-cops at our store.
This was the first time I thought I was going to see someone killed. There was probably a good reason this rent-a-cop wasn't a real cop, even though the standards were pretty low back then in that area. I decided to stay away from rent- a-cops and the places that hired them whenever possible.
To this day I know that kid would have been shot if he hadn't stopped running.
(The bathroom sink pooper kept on doing his thing and was never caught. Some of the biggest loads I have ever seen. How can they do that?)
That's one helluva story, Anon 8:28. Thank you for sharing it.
DeleteI'm also glad you had the wherewithal to act as the real authority figure needed in this situation.
It's good to be white.
ReplyDeleteWith a gun.
DeleteThe victim had 10 children. How does anyone explain to them WHY their father was killed? Senseless.
ReplyDeleteI posted this elsewhere in regard to the 911 dispatcher that hung up on a caller because the caller was more concerned about the dying teenager in her arms than the dispatcher's ego. It fits here also.
ReplyDeleteIf you are a firefighter, police officer, health provider, etc., you *will* be dealing with people who are stressed out, angry, frightened, demanding, emotional, and/or irrational.
It is *your* responsibility to maintain a calm and professional demeanor during your interactions with the public (which by the way may help prevent escalation of the incident).**
It is *not* the obligation of the public to feed your ego, placate you, appease you, or worry about hurting your feefees.
**Of course, it is painfully obvious that many of these video game cops *want* escalation and a reason to use their guns.
I wonder if the "arm teachers in schools" crowd would alsotoo grant teachers the right to react to negative student behavior with shoot'em-first \-then-make-up-a-story tactics like they are willing to excuse/justify for law enforcement?
Deletelf more teacher gunned down unruly students in schools, cops wouldn't have to be gunning down so many of them on the streets later.
I saw that story too. Horrible!! The friend was shot and dying. The caller was panicked and stressed and freaking out. I don't blame the caller. Actually, if the caller was perfectly calm about the whole thing, everyone would think they aren't human.
DeleteSo the caller used a profanity in their understandable frustration and the operator hung up on a life and death situation.
This isn't dial a prayer, it's 911. If you can't handle it, get a job taking calls for the Dean Martin roast videos.
No kidding. When I was 19, I had call 911 when a healthy family member had a grand mal seizure out of the blue, no prior history. I'm positive I said "shit!" several times during the call. Some scared people do this a lot.
DeleteThe really sad thing is that this isn't the last time this will happen until we admit we have a "police state" and put more accountability in place. Cameras (those used by onlookers and those attached to the cop car and the cop) can catch a lot but if there is no prosecution, what good is that? Making our citizens (of all colors) afraid of the police is...dare I say it...like what Hitler did with the Gestapo.
ReplyDeleteOT- but
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politicususa.com/2015/07/30/convicted-felon-killed-cecil-lion-mirrors-republican-cruelty-americans.html
Watch this history get "white washed" as well. This is coming..
ReplyDeletehttp://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/07/30/3686060/conservatives-get-major-win-fight-ap-history-classes/
I watched the video. It's worse than that. The "cop" asked him if he had a license with him. The guy actually answered him by telling him he couldn't find it, it must not be on him several times. As far as I could see, the guy didn't drive away before getting shot. It looks to me like he was shot, and the car lurched forward with the foot stuck on the gas pedal.
ReplyDeleteWill turn into a plea bargain manslaughter.
ReplyDeleteThe defense will be that the driver ignored police orders, starting to drive away in his vehicle, with the cops arm inside, and the vehicle could be used as a weapon. The driver had already handed the cop an open bottle of gin, and was evasive about providing a license.
This Is What Cold Blooded Murder Looks Like
ReplyDeletehttp://theobamadiary.com/2015/07/29/this-is-what-cold-blooded-murder-looks-like/
I sincerely hope this 'rent a cop' gets life and never sees sunshine again! What a joke! Plus, he appears to be a racist jerk! He'll get his in the prison system!!
ReplyDeleteMy condolences to the family members of the man in killed for no damned reason!
Well, he faced the judge in court and pleaded "not guilty". Bail was set at a million, and someone put up the ten percent and bailed him out. Two other cops are on desk duty because they backed up his "I was being dragged by the car" story, which the tapes clearly don't show happened, while they get investigated further.
ReplyDeleteI hope this leads to every law enforcement person, campus police, mall cops, armed security guards, and any zimmereman's I missed wear a camera.
How this piece of dirt could stand in court and plead "not guilty", knowing the tapes are he killed a human being, is beyond me.
This wasn't a policeman. This was Campus Security. There is no acceptable reason he should have been armed. This is what happens when you give loaded weapons to untrained cowboys. I doubt this guy could pass the temperament tests to become a real police officer.
ReplyDeleteIt was murder and I hope he goes away for a long time, but at the same time....I have to say that most of the other cop involved cases are not so simple or blatant, and many involved people who were committing crimes. If you look at the pool of these shootings, and eliminate criminals, and eliminate people who are resisting arrest, fleeing or disobeying orders...that would probably eliminate 99 percent of it. I'm sorry, but if a cop tells me to get out of the car I'm not going to refuse, and I'm not going to shut the door, and I'm not going to call him a pussy like Sandra Bland did. I'm just going to follow orders, and that's it. Why is that so hard for most black people to do, when they're approached?
ReplyDelete