Trump: Tulsa Officer Might Have Erred in Shooting Unarmed Black Man

By Dustin Siggins Published on September 22, 2016

GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump said today that the police officer who shot Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Oklahoma may have erred in ending Crutcher’s life.

His answer came at the end of question-and-answer session at a black church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. “What do you have to say about the recent shootings of unarmed black men by the police, up to and including the North Carolina one yesterday and the shooting in Tulsa the day before?” Pastor Darrell Scott asked Trump.

“Well as you know, I am a tremendous believer in the police and the law enforcement, because we need that for ourselves, we do, we really do,” said the Republican nominee, who touted the support he has gotten from police groups even while he acknowledged that “you always have problems.”

One of those problems may have happened in Tulsa, said Trump. “I must tell you, I watched the shooting in particular in Tulsa, and that man was hands up, that man went to the car, hands up, put his hand on the car. To me it looked like he did everything you’re supposed to do.”

“And he looked like a really good man — maybe I’m a little clouded because I saw his family talking about him after the fact, so you get a little bit different image maybe. But to me it looked like someone who was doing what they were asking him to do.”

Crutcher was killed after his car broke down in Tulsa and he was confronted by Officer Betty Shelby. According to Shelby’s attorney, she thought Crutcher might be on drugs because of his behavior, and after being mostly non-responsive to her instructions he walked back to his car. She then feared he was grabbing a weapon from his vehicle, and fired.

Crutcher’s family says his window was rolled up, and that Shelby overreacted. Multiple officers were on-scene when Shelby shot Crutcher, including one who had a Taser in hand.

Police released dashboard and helicopter cameras of the incident, which Tulsa police chief Chuck Jordan told reporters is “very disturbing and difficult to watch.” In his comments, Trump, who has framed himself as the law and order candidate in his race against Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, said he was “very troubled” by “this young officer’s” actions.

“I don’t know what she was thinking. … I’m very, very troubled by that. And we have to be very careful. So, these things are terrible. In my opinion, that was a terrible situation. And we’ve seen others. And the police are aware of that too. By the way, the police are troubled by that too, the police see it too.”

“Was she scared? Was she choking? What happened?” continued Trump. “But maybe people like that, people that choke, people that do that, maybe they can’t be doing what they’re doing. They can’t be doing what they’re doing. So we all respect our police greatly, and they will just have to get better and better and better.”

 

Note: To see Donald Trump’s entire appearance Wednesday at New Spirit Revival Center, click here.

Like the article? Share it with your friends! And use our social media pages to join or start the conversation! Find us on Facebook, X, Instagram, MeWe and Gab.

Inspiration
The Good Life
Katherine Wolf
More from The Stream
Connect with Us