US cop indicted on murder charge in Cincinnati traffic-stop shooting

[webfact]

Ohio cop indicted on murder charge in traffic-stop shooting
By LISA CORNWELL

CINCINNATI (AP) — A University of Cincinnati officer who shot a motorist during a traffic stop over a missing front license plate was indicted Wednesday on a murder charge, with a prosecutor saying the officer "purposely killed him" and "should never have been a police officer."

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters announced the grand jury indictment at a news conference to discuss developments in the investigation into the July 19 shooting of 43-year-old motorist Samuel DuBose by Officer Ray Tensing.

Authorities have said Tensing spotted a car driven by DuBose and missing the front license plate, which is required by Ohio law. They say Tensing stopped the car and a struggle ensued after DuBose refused to provide a driver's license and get out of the car.

Tensing, 25, has said he was dragged by the car and forced to shoot at DuBose. He fired once, striking DuBose in the head.

But Deters dismissed Tensing's claim that he was dragged by the car and suggested that he shouldn't have pulled DuBose over to begin with.

"He fell backward after he shot (DuBose) in the head," Deters said, adding that it was a "chicken crap" traffic stop.

On footage released from the body-camera video Wednesday, the officer could be heard asking for DuBose's driver's license several times with DuBose at one point saying he had one. Later, DuBose said, "But I don't think I have it on me."

Tensing asks DuBose to unbuckle his seat belt. About that time Tensing pulls on the door handle, and DuBose puts his hand on the door to keep it closed. Then the video becomes shaky, but a gunshot can be heard and DuBose appears to be slumped in the seat before the car rolls away, coming to stop at a nearby corner.

The University of Cincinnati said it fired Tensing after his indictment. Tensing turned himself in Wednesday afternoon at the Hamilton County Justice Center and was processed on charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter.

Tensing's attorney, Stewart Mathews, didn't return phone messages seeking comment after the indictment announcement.

Mathews said earlier Wednesday that he thought an indictment was likely "given the political climate" and comments made by city officials. But Mathews said given the evidence he's seen, he doesn't believe there should be an indictment.

DuBose's death comes amid months of national scrutiny of police dealings with African-Americans, especially those killed by officers. DuBose was black. Tensing is white. Authorities haven't indicated whether race was a part of the investigation.

Body-camera video of the shooting was also released Wednesday. DuBose's family had been pressing for its release, and news organizations including The Associated Press had sued Deters to get it released under Ohio open records law, but Deters released it before any ruling had been made.

Deters called the shooting "senseless" and "asinine."

"He purposely killed him," Deters said. "He should never have been a police officer."

The prosecutor also said he thought it was time to reconsider the UC police department's role.

"I don't think a university should be in the policing business," Deters said.

A message for comment was left Wednesday with the police department. The university said earlier this week it plans an independent review of its police department's policies.

The UC officer made the traffic stop near the university's main campus, and UC police have said the intersection was within the campus police's jurisdiction.

The University of Cincinnati on Wednesday closed its main campus in anticipation of grand jury action in the case.

Mark O'Mara, attorney for DuBose's family, called for a "peaceful and nonaggressive" response from the community after the officer's indictment. O'Mara said the family wanted a peaceful reaction because "Sam was a peaceful person."

Tensing has more than five years of experience in law enforcement and has worked as a University of Cincinnati police officer since April 2014, said Jason Goodrich, UC police chief. His annual performance review this April noted that he was extremely strong in the traffic area and maintains control of his weapons and of "situations he is involved in."

Tensing formerly worked as an officer in the small Cincinnati suburban village of Greenhills.

Deters said when he saw the video of the shooting, he was shocked.

"I feel so sorry for this family and what they lost," Deters said. "And I feel sorry for the community, too."

If convicted, Tensing could face up to life in prison.
___

Associated Press writers Dan Sewell in Cincinnati and Kantele Franko and Mitch Stacy in Columbus contributed to this report.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-07-30

[alfalfa19]

This guy Deters sounds pretty much on the ball, compared to many prosecutors.

[sdanielmcev]

Deters seems either very smart or very dumb. Smart if he took this tack to head off any rioting, dumb if he thinks a murder charge will stick. If as he says it was purposeful, that's murder one.

[Publicus]

Tensing stopped DuBose due to a missing front license plate.

Bodycam video recorded the traffic stop, and it refutes the officer’s account of what transpired.

According to the report Tensing filed, DuBose attempted to drive away and dragged Tensing as he drove off, causing the officer to fear for his life and subsequently shoot DuBose in the head.

Instead, as the video shows, Tensing shot DuBose first, and the car rolled away. DuBose was of course unarmed and not in any way threatening.

Here is the bodycam video:

https://youtu.be/5tJQENZTaSQ

Here is the prosecutor's news conference announcing the indictment:

<iframe width="750" height="537" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MlfwamCQwmo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Browser technical problems prohibit my posting the videos directly. The second link has been corrected to present the prosecutor in his news conference.

Edited July 30, 2015 by Publicus

[granuaile]

Watched the video, pretty damning. My cousin is a dispatcher with a suburban police department there and usually supports police, but even she said she's shaking her head on this. I never liked Joe Deters' political views, but he's doing the right thing here I think....

[JakeSully]

Fox News: The car is a deadly weapon and that's why the officer had no choice but to shoot him.

Will be interesting if the jury buys that explanation.

But if he's found not guilty.. watch out.. massive rioting and backlash. Like Rodney King.. this is on video.

[Neurath]

Entirely DuBose' fault, if black people didn't exist this wouldn't have happened.

[Publicus]

Fox News: The car is a deadly weapon and that's why the officer had no choice but to shoot him.

Will be interesting if the jury buys that explanation.

But if he's found not guilty.. watch out.. massive rioting and backlash. Like Rodney King.. this is on video.

Off the wall speculation that has nothing to do with the facts.

The cop was alongside the car, parallel to it, not in front of or behind it (vertically).

DuBose was unarmed, the cop was armed.

There is no rioting or civil disorder occurring so now extremists have taken to predicting some at some unspecific point in the future, which is the ultimate in desperation over the fact this now-fired special police officer is going to trial on a murder rap.

A murder rapper copper.

What would be interesting is the specific concoctions the rightwing might try to come up with in addition to this one to try to justify the malicious action of this quick draw University of Cincinnati former campus cop who was roaming about on slave patrol outside of his specific jurisdictional space.

[Acharn]

This guy Deters sounds pretty much on the ball, compared to many prosecutors.

Well, he's dealing with a University Police Department here, not the metropolitan cops he has to depend on for his day-to-day work, which helps. The fact that there was video and the Ohio public records law meant the video would surely have to eventually be made public probably also helped. I haven't seen the video (and apparently the video actually doesn't show much, but the audio got the whole transaction), but the proliferation of videos showing what cops actually did compared to what they say they did is a big help. The best indicator here is that he's not taking it to a grand jury, he's using the other legal path so we can be sure confident he's actually going to proceed with the prosecution.

[impulse]

This guy Deters sounds pretty much on the ball, compared to many prosecutors.

I question the wisdom of a prosecutor coming out with statements declaring it a definite murder, calling it a "chicken crap" traffic stop, and claiming the guy should have never been a cop.

He may be correct on all accounts. But I think tempering his statements previous to the trial (at least jury selection) would have been prudent.

Once again, the thing that disturbs me is the discrepancy between the "gold standard" sworn police report and what actually shows up on the video. Gotta wonder how many bogus charges have cost millions of people billions of dollars ($$$$ tens of billions if you include tax money spent on and in jails and courts) when cops covered up their misdeeds with a falsified report.

Thank goodness for dash cams, body cams and cell phone cams.

Though I suspect there are a small but significant minority of cops sweating bullets about their "habits" that are going to be tough to break.

Edited July 30, 2015 by impulse

[nemrut]

This guy Deters sounds pretty much on the ball, compared to many prosecutors.

I question the wisdom of a prosecutor coming out with statements declaring it a definite murder, calling it a "chicken crap" traffic stop, and claiming the guy should have never been a cop.

He may be correct on all accounts. But I think tempering his statements previous to the trial (at least jury selection) would have been prudent.

Once again, the thing that disturbs me is the discrepancy between the "gold standard" sworn police report and what actually shows up on the video. Gotta wonder how many bogus charges have cost millions of people billions of dollars ($$$$ tens of billions if you include tax money spent on and in jails and courts) when cops covered up their misdeeds with a falsified report.

Thank goodness for dash cams, body cams and cell phone cams.

Though I suspect there are a small but significant minority of cops sweating bullets about their "habits" that are going to be tough to break.

Gotta wonder how many bogus charges have cost millions of people billions of dollars ($$$$ tens of billions if you include tax money spent on and in jails and courts) when cops covered up their misdeeds with a falsified report.

Thank goodness for dash cams, body cams and cell phone cams.

It really calls into question the validity of crime data collected from police precincts by the FBI and how much it skews data on black crime.

One can only guess the frequency of such police abuse and malfeasance toward blacks before dash/body cams were used.

[Publicus]

This guy Deters sounds pretty much on the ball, compared to many prosecutors.

I question the wisdom of a prosecutor coming out with statements declaring it a definite murder, calling it a "chicken crap" traffic stop, and claiming the guy should have never been a cop.

He may be correct on all accounts. But I think tempering his statements previous to the trial (at least jury selection) would have been prudent.

Once again, the thing that disturbs me is the discrepancy between the "gold standard" sworn police report and what actually shows up on the video. Gotta wonder how many bogus charges have cost millions of people billions of dollars ($$$$ tens of billions if you include tax money spent on and in jails and courts) when cops covered up their misdeeds with a falsified report.

Thank goodness for dash cams, body cams and cell phone cams.

Though I suspect there are a small but significant minority of cops sweating bullets about their "habits" that are going to be tough to break.

The concern for a cautious approach is understood yet it is fact that when any prosecutor decides to take a case to trial s/he believes in the case and fully intends to win the case.

A prosecutor presents his case at all times and at all venues within the confines of fair trial laws and provisions of the Constitution.

This quick draw cop had been employed by the publicly established and funded University of Cincinnati which makes him a full time employee of the state of Ohio.

The state of Ohio has indicted its own employee and it will prosecute its own employee. The state prosecutor who indicted the killer said he's guilty of murder so voters in the jurisdiction (and throughout the state) recognize they need to have a legal proceeding with an outcome of one kind or another.

Cincinnati police mug shot on booking Ray Tensing on the charge of murder.

The two other cops who supported the killer cop's fake story of what occurred need to be punished for filing a false police report with the state. All three of the cops stand in one way or the other in need of the correctional services of the state of Ohio.

Edited July 30, 2015 by Publicus

[Asiantravel]

Fox News: The car is a deadly weapon and that's why the officer had no choice but to shoot him.

Will be interesting if the jury buys that explanation.

But if he's found not guilty.. watch out.. massive rioting and backlash. Like Rodney King.. this is on video.

" But if he's found not guilty.. watch out.. massive rioting and backlash. Like Rodney King.. this is on video."

already this is getting much uglier than previous incidents in that a post on Cincinnati Craigslist is calling for black people to shoot police and burn police stations with a very macabre footnote being "Dont shoot at the chest because they have bullet proof vests on - Aim carefully and go for the head"

Edited July 30, 2015 by Asiantravel

[samthefish]

It's going to be like the 80'movie maniac cop. People scared of serial killer dressed as a cop start shooting cops first.Well, black folks at least.

[Publicus]

Fox News: The car is a deadly weapon and that's why the officer had no choice but to shoot him.

Will be interesting if the jury buys that explanation.

But if he's found not guilty.. watch out.. massive rioting and backlash. Like Rodney King.. this is on video.

" But if he's found not guilty.. watch out.. massive rioting and backlash. Like Rodney King.. this is on video."

already this is getting much uglier than previous incidents in that a post on Cincinnati Craigslist is calling for black people to shoot police and burn police stations with a very macabre footnote being "Dont shoot at the chest because they have bullet proof vests on - Aim carefully and go for the head"

That's the same as the rightwing trying to incite their dream race war, i.e., extremists in a lunar orbit that have no impact or effect on anyone until they crash land in the desert.

Some of 'em however such as the Roof guy in South Carolina take others with 'em when they crash. There's another cop btw in SC up on murder charges in a race related murder not very different from this one.

This kind of extremist rhetoric goes on all the time, not only in this incident. Some people complained about the McKinney Texas 15 year old black girl being in a bikini swimming while black. The iron knickers former cop was the one who took the action then and there that cost him his career.

This is another beserker cop but this one with his martian eyes who's thrown his career and life and the life of another black American down the crapper.

This national police crime wave of serial killings of black Americans will continue until black lives matter to the boyz in blue.

[ggt]

There seems to be void in police training...where one should be taught that using a gun...unless one's life is in danger...is a serious no no...

Body cams should be mandatory on all police vehicles and policemen...

Police fabrication of the events surrounding an incident...are often designed to hide their wrongdoing...

It is high time to bring the police back down to earth...they are not above the law...and should be vigorously prosecuted for their crimes against citizens...

[sdanielmcev]

Fox News: The car is a deadly weapon and that's why the officer had no choice but to shoot him.

Will be interesting if the jury buys that explanation.

But if he's found not guilty.. watch out.. massive rioting and backlash. Like Rodney King.. this is on video.

" But if he's found not guilty.. watch out.. massive rioting and backlash. Like Rodney King.. this is on video."

already this is getting much uglier than previous incidents in that a post on Cincinnati Craigslist is calling for black people to shoot police and burn police stations with a very macabre footnote being "Dont shoot at the chest because they have bullet proof vests on - Aim carefully and go for the head"

That's the same as the rightwing trying to incite their dream race war, i.e., extremists in a lunar orbit that have no impact or effect on anyone until they crash land in the desert.

Some of 'em however such as the Roof guy in South Carolina take others with 'em when they crash. There's another cop btw in SC up on murder charges in a race related murder not very different from this one.

This kind of extremist rhetoric goes on all the time, not only in this incident. Some people complained about the McKinney Texas 15 year old black girl being in a bikini swimming while black. The iron knickers former cop was the one who took the action then and there that cost him his career.

This is another beserker cop but this one with his martian eyes who's thrown his career and life and the life of another black American down the crapper.

This national police crime wave of serial killings of black Americans will continue until black lives matter to the boyz in blue.

So, you have the voting records of these cops? I thought not. Prove any of your wild theories that these are right wing extremists.

[Publicus]

The state judge in Cincinnati set bail today at $1 million while the family of the unarmed black man Sam Dubose said the two cops who co-conspired with Tensing to falsify the police report of the murder of Dubose need to be investigated and dealt with under the law.

Today also Prosecutor Joe Deters released the bodycams of the two other police officers who arrived immediately after the murder. Deters said his office is in fact investigating the other two cops, their conduct on-scene, and the reports they filed.

Deters has said Tensing's report was false as were any other reports filed consistent with it.

Samuel DuBose Video Appears to Show Two Officers Reinforced False Account of Police Killing

A detailed analysis of body-camera video released on Wednesday shows police officers in Cincinnati appear to have corroborated a false account of the fatal shooting.

http://www.msn.com

https://search.yahoo.com/search

Prosecutor Deters just released the two officers' bodycam videos and they should be available online by now or shortly. Television news in the USA has been showing the bodycam videos of the two conspiring cops who don't look very innocent either in their falsification of the event.

Edited July 30, 2015 by Publicus

[Publicus]

This is a freeze frame from one of the bodycam videos of the Cincinnati municipal police who arrived at the scene after Tensing had shot Sam DuBose to death. The full video is at the first link below that includes the shooting and the immediate aftermath of the car rolling, crashing to a stop, and the two Cincinnati police officers arriving guns drawn.

Two Cincinnati police officers approach the motionless car of Sam DuBose after it hit a post

from drifting immediately following Ray Tensing's fatal shooting of the unarmed driver

Mr DuBose in the head. More than one city of Cincinnati police officer to arrive at the scene

after the fact are being investigated for filing a false police report saying Tensing had

been trapped and dragged by DuBose who moved the car forward sharply before

being shot once in the head.

This is the full Tensing bodycam video of all the action, from start to finish with Mr Dubose's car drifting after the shooting and stopping only after hitting a tree, and two Cincinnati municipal police officers arriving on the scene, approaching the motionless car with guns drawn.

<iframe src="https://embed.theguardian.com/embed/video/us-news/video/2015/jul/29/samuel-dubose-shooting-body-camera-footage-video" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This police bodycam video shows five cops standing around afterward with Tensing concocting the false story that Tensing had been dragged by Mr DuBose's car.

<iframe src="https://embed.theguardian.com/embed/video/us-news/video/2015/jul/30/cincinnati-officers-react-at-shooting-scene-video" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Prosecuting Attorney Joe Deters said yesterday officers are being investigated for filing false reports of the incident.

Apologies that my browser can only provide links rather than the videos directly to the post.

[impulse]

Ooh.

If the facts are as they seem to be unfolding, this is going to cost the taxpayers big time.

Imagine the defense attorneys filing for release of 100's of inmates whose conviction depended on the sworn testimony of these guys.

Then the lawsuits. A lawyer's creamy dream.

Cincinnati probably needs to freeze these cops' assets quickly to make right just a tiny bit of the damage they've done. Sadly, the majority of the damages will be borne by the taxpayers. And this victim's family. And probably hundreds of others they've victimized in the past before there were body cams, dash cams and camera phones...

[sgtsabai]

Voting records don't matter, killer cops do. On the other hand, I'd bet he had been voting Republican if he voted, probably watched faux (not the) news.

[Publicus]

Fox News: The car is a deadly weapon and that's why the officer had no choice but to shoot him.

Will be interesting if the jury buys that explanation.

But if he's found not guilty.. watch out.. massive rioting and backlash. Like Rodney King.. this is on video.

" But if he's found not guilty.. watch out.. massive rioting and backlash. Like Rodney King.. this is on video."

already this is getting much uglier than previous incidents in that a post on Cincinnati Craigslist is calling for black people to shoot police and burn police stations with a very macabre footnote being "Dont shoot at the chest because they have bullet proof vests on - Aim carefully and go for the head"

That's the same as the rightwing trying to incite their dream race war, i.e., extremists in a lunar orbit that have no impact or effect on anyone until they crash land in the desert.

Some of 'em however such as the Roof guy in South Carolina take others with 'em when they crash. There's another cop btw in SC up on murder charges in a race related murder not very different from this one.

This kind of extremist rhetoric goes on all the time, not only in this incident. Some people complained about the McKinney Texas 15 year old black girl being in a bikini swimming while black. The iron knickers former cop was the one who took the action then and there that cost him his career.

This is another beserker cop but this one with his martian eyes who's thrown his career and life and the life of another black American down the crapper.

This national police crime wave of serial killings of black Americans will continue until black lives matter to the boyz in blue.

So, you have the voting records of these cops? I thought not. Prove any of your wild theories that these are right wing extremists.

The largest police union, the 100 year old Fraternal Order of Police, have almost always endorsed the Republican for president while giving the finger to the Democrat. Obama no twice, Gore no, Clinton no once, Dukakis no, Mondale no, Carter no etc etc back to FDR and further.

All the same, it is a minority of police in the US who are conducting a national police crime wave in the serial murder of unarmed black Americans, ranging broadly from those blacks of middle age to children, to include shooting black Americans in the back or precipitously head on.

Anyone who might think the crime wave hitmen cops are Obama Democrats needs to get smarter than a fifth grader. Indeed, the vast majority of police support their assassins in blue.

The thug cops are Republican, white, burned out, beserker rightwing cops. Confederates through and through. And they are getting away with murder. It is possible there are rightwinger Democrats who are cops, but the vast majority of rightwing cops are Republicans who with their union vote Republican for president.

The Cincinnati assassin cop is even out on $1 million bail, and he has a right to be free on bail. It is obvious there is money behind this guy. Indeed, cops murder black Americans then collect six figures in bucks online from rightwing cheerleading teapot and other Republican supporters.

[uksomchai]

Why is it that when white cop shoots black suspect it is always racist and most times leads to rioting and mass demonstrations regardless of the circumstances. When a black suspect shoots dead a white police officer there are no riots or screams of racism just another dead cop doing his duty.

A white cop is shot during a stop in Memphis by a black suspect that has just got out of jail and it appears it was all over less than 2 grams of weed.

Link here

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/02/us/memphis-officer-killed-traffic-stop/index.html

All those out there saying this black guy was murdered should try doing their job for a few months. I know it isn't a job I would like to do day in and day out

[Publicus]

Why is it that when white cop shoots black suspect it is always racist and most times leads to rioting and mass demonstrations regardless of the circumstances. When a black suspect shoots dead a white police officer there are no riots or screams of racism just another dead cop doing his duty.

A white cop is shot during a stop in Memphis by a black suspect that has just got out of jail and it appears it was all over less than 2 grams of weed.

Link here

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/02/us/memphis-officer-killed-traffic-stop/index.html

All those out there saying this black guy was murdered should try doing their job for a few months. I know it isn't a job I would like to do day in and day out

All those out there saying this black guy was murdered should try doing their job for a few months.

Trying to personalise the issues fails and the attempted directive is irrelevant and immaterial to the discourse. If for instance I wanted to criticise pilots, would I have to go be a pilot for a couple of months....politicians, medical doctors, taxi drivers etc etc.

Practically anyone in the world with a pulse knows there is a national police crime wave occurring that is the spontaneous serial murder of unarmed black Americans, males in particular.

This continues unchecked, it is logical to conclude the defenseless will cease to be defenseless. Then what have we got.

[sdanielmcev]

Why is it that when white cop shoots black suspect it is always racist and most times leads to rioting and mass demonstrations regardless of the circumstances. When a black suspect shoots dead a white police officer there are no riots or screams of racism just another dead cop doing his duty.

A white cop is shot during a stop in Memphis by a black suspect that has just got out of jail and it appears it was all over less than 2 grams of weed.

Link here

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/02/us/memphis-officer-killed-traffic-stop/index.html

All those out there saying this black guy was murdered should try doing their job for a few months. I know it isn't a job I would like to do day in and day out

Because they are hypocrites. They are conspiracy theorists. Because killing a white cop by a black man fits the ideologies they want to shove down your throat. Pick one.