On Tuesday, I wrote about Terence Crutcher, who was fatally shot by a police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Crutcher, a 40-year-old Black man, was killed by Officer Betty Shelby who approached him after his vehicle stalled in the middle of a road.
Yesterday:
The Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced he charged Officer Betty Shelby with first-degree manslaughter in the death of Terence Crutcher.The Department of Justice is also investigating.
On the formal charge filed with the county, it says Officer Betty Shelby's actions last Friday, which resulted from her fear of Terence Crutcher, were unreasonable.
...If convicted, the first-degree manslaughter charge carries a minimum punishment of four years in prison.
The charge and its accompanying minimum sentence seem insufficient to me, but I'm guessing the prosecutor brought the charge he thought his office would best be able to successfully prosecute. Normally I wouldn't be inclined to give the D.A. the benefit of the doubt, but the fact that charges were brought so quickly is a pretty good sign.
Still. Goddamn. None of this looks like justice. Justice will look like no more Black people being killed by police.
In related news: Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence says "there is too much talk of 'institutional racism and institutional bias' in the wake of unrest following police shootings in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Charlotte, North Carolina." He is a horrible person.
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