Footage of yet another brutal police shooting of an unarmed black man has been released.
Terence Crutcher was stun-gunned then fatally shot by the Tulsa Police on Friday evening, after his SUV stalled in the middle of a road. Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan has since said Crutcher was unarmed.
The following footage contains harrowing scenes.
After responding to a 911 call reporting Crutcher and his vehicle, which was causing obstruction to the road, police arrived at the scene.
Initially authorities claimed that Crutcher reached into his car when a group of four armed officers approached, thus failing to comply with their commands to raise his hands.
However, the footage shows as plain as day that the victim walked away from the officers with his arms raised, posing no immediate threat whatsoever.
One named police officer, Tyler Turnbough tasered Crutcher, and immediately afterwards his colleague Betty Shelby proceeded to shoot him. Shelby has since been placed on administrative leave.
This incident has been dubbed the ‘worst ever seen’ by Ray Owens, a pastor at a local Metropolitan Baptist Church who had known 40-year-old Terence for years.
The reaction of the police after the man was down — it was well over a minute before there was any attempt to render medical aid. He laid in the street. The police seemed not to react to that.
I think this is about the culture of policing in communities of colour. We have to begin to analyse those practices [and] those norms.
Owens is now looking for ways to help the community raise protest and have their voices heard in peaceful protest. Our thoughts are with the Crutcher family at this sad time.
In the meantime, the list of lives needlessly lost is too long to contemplate.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.