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Police officer indicted for murder in fatal shooting of Samuel DuBose University police officer charged with murder for shooting of Samuel DuBose
(35 minutes later)
Authorities in Cincinnati have indicted a university police officer for murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black man earlier this month. A white police officer who gunned down an unarmed black man in Cincinnati, Ohio, has been indicted for murder by a grand jury, as the county prosecutor described the shooting as the “most asinine act” he had ever seen committed by a police officer.
Police body camera footage depicting the fatal shooting was released at a press conference on Wednesday, as the city braces for possible protests over the case. Samuel DuBose, 43, was killed on 19 July by a single shot to the head fired by University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing during a routine traffic stop, in which DuBose was pulled over for not having a front license plate.
Samuel DuBose, 43, was fatally shot in the head by white officer Ray Tensing of the University of Cincinnati police department on 19 July. The incident occurred during a routine traffic stop after Tensing had pulled DuBose over for having a missing front license plate. According to the police account DuBose refused to provide officer Tensing with his driver’s license, producing a bottle of alcohol instead and refusing to exit the vehicle. Tensing had maintained he was “dragged” by Dubose’s vehicle after the two entered into a physical altercation and was forced to shoot, but Hamilton county prosecutor Joseph Deters said body-camera evidence completely contradicted this account.
Announcing the charges on Wednesday, Hamilton county prosecutor Joseph Deters described the shooting as “so senseless”. In a frank assessment of the officer’s conduct, Deters said Tensing had “purposely killed” DuBose and that he “should never have been a police officer”.
“I feel sorry for his [DuBose’s] family. I feel sorry for the community, it should never have happened.” DuBose’s death is the latest in a string of a high profile killings of black Americans at the hands of US police, and comes almost a year after the death of 18 year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, which prompted widespread protests around the US. The incident also follows the police shooting of unarmed 50-year-old Walter Scott in South Carolina, where eyewitness video led to a murder charge against the officer responsible.
Local news reports stated that Tensing turned himself in on Wednesday to face charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter. He faces life in prison if convicted. Tensing’s body-camera footage shows a relatively calm exchange between the two and there appears to be no physical altercation. In the recording, Tensing asks DuBose, a father of 10, for his license a number of times and enquires about a bottle on the driver’s floor, which DuBose hands over. At one point the driver responds: “I have a license. You can run my name,” after telling the officer he cannot find his card.
According to Tensing’s incident report, the officer fired his gun after being dragged by DuBose’s vehicle. Tensing’s radio dispatch immediately after the incident made no reference to being dragged, instead he stated he was “almost run over” by DuBose’s vehicle.
Members of DuBose’s family have disputed this narrative, arguing that despite his criminal history, which includes over 75 charges in Hamilton County for traffic and drugs charges, he was not a violent man.
“He got stopped a lot, but he never tried to fight,” Audrey DuBose, his mother, told Cincinnati.com.
Deters said that after reviewing the body camera footage, Tensing’s account that he had been “dragged” by DuBose’s vehicle was shown to be untrue.
“It is our belief that he was not dragged. If you slow down this tape you see what happens, it is a very slow period of time from when the car starts rolling to when a gun is out and he’s shot in the head,” Deters said.
“He [DuBose] was simply, slowly rolling away,” Deters added.
Deters said Tensing’s response to the fact DuBose’s car started to roll should have been to “let him go”.
Asked if he thought Tensing had deliberately misled investigators, Deters responded:
“Yes. I think he was making an excuse for a purposeful killing of another person.”
University of Cincinnati cancelled all classes on its uptown and medical campuses on Wednesday in anticipation of the grand jury decision announcement. In a statement, the university said the decision was made with “an abundance of caution”.
Related: The Counted: people killed by police in the United States in 2015 – interactiveRelated: The Counted: people killed by police in the United States in 2015 – interactive
“We realize this is a challenging time for our university community,” the statement said. “I didn’t even do nothing,” DuBose later says as the officer appears to reach inside the car. The officer then shouts “stop” and opens fire.
Deters said he had spoken to the Cincinnati police chief and recommended that the university police department be disbanded and replaced with a new city police precinct on campus. Deters said the video showed that Tensing actually fell backwards after shooting DuBose, and that he was not dragged at all.
“It is our belief that he was not dragged. If you slow down this tape you see what happens, it is a very slow period of time from when the car starts rolling to when a gun is out and he’s shot in the head,” Deters said.
“He [Dubose] was simply, slowly rolling away,” Deters added.
The video shows the car then speeding up, a result Deters said, of the fact DuBose was “dead instantly” and may have accelerated the car as he slumped.
“He [Tensing] wasn’t dealing with someone who was wanted for murder, OK? He was dealing with someone who didn’t have a front license plate,” said Deters, visibly angered at points during the press conference. “This is, in the vernacular, a pretty chicken-crap stop, all right? And – I could use harsher words.”
“I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” he added. “This is the most asinine act I’ve ever seen a police officer make, totally unwarranted.”
Deters also said the death reflected poorly on the university police force as a whole and he had advised Cincinnati police chief Jeffrey Blackwell that the force be disbanded and replaced with a new city police precinct on campus.
“The university does a great job educating people … that should be their job, being police officers should not be their role.”“The university does a great job educating people … that should be their job, being police officers should not be their role.”
Cincinnati mayor John Cranley told reporters the city was preparing for further protests following the expected announcement. The traffic stop occurred near the university’s main campus, and UC police have said the intersection was within the campus police’s jurisdiction.
“I think we’re prepared,” Cranley said Tuesday. “Everyone has the right to peacefully protest, but we will not tolerate lawlessness.” The city had been bracing for the announcement of the grand jury decision with both members of DuBose’s family and city officials calling for calm.
The university cancelled all classes on its uptown and medical campuses on Wednesday in anticipation of the grand jury decision announcement. In a statement, the university said the decision was made with “an abundance of caution”.
“We realize this is a challenging time for our university community,” the statement said.
Deters said that warrant for Tensing’s arrest had been issued, with local media reporting the officer had already handed himself in. Shortly after the indictment was revealed, UC police announced Tensing had been fired.