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National
Activist Says Charlotte Police Is Lying; Accuses Them For Protester’s Death
Justin Carr was fatally shot while protesting the police killing of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte on Wednesday.
The Gospel Music Workshop Of America Mourns The Loss Of Terence Crutcher
Terence Crutcher and his twin sister.
Brooklyn, NY – A press con- ference was held Thursday in Manhattan, NY at the National Action Network House of Jus- tice, to discuss the outrage felt in the fatal police shooting of Terence Crutcher. The pur- pose was to appeal for justice and bring awareness of the on- going police brutality that af- fects Black Lives across the nation.
The press conference was hosted by Al Sharpton, Bishop Albert Jamison, and the family of Terence Crutcher.
Bishop Albert Jamison
(Chairman), Members of the Board, and all involved with The Gospel Music Workshop of America, express how deeply saddened they are at the un- timely, unnecessary passing of Terence.
Terence was a part of the Gospel Music Workshop of America all of his life. He is af- fectionately called a “workshop baby,” a term used for those, who from birth, have been a part of GWMA. Terence’s fa- ther, Joe Crutcher, has been a GMWA Chapter Representa- tive for over 30 years and would bring Terence to the conventions annually.
Terence was the father of four children and will be missed by all who knew and loved him. Funeral plans are being made by Terence’s fam- ily. A musical is also being planned in Terence’s mem- ory.
Tulsa Officer Arrested For
Jimmy James Tyson, 31, a community activist and first responder, was standing 10-15 feet from the riot-police line in front of the Omni Hotel in downtown Charlotte, N.C., last Wednesday night—where hundreds of protesters had gathered in response to the po- lice killing of Keith Lamont Scott, 43—when all of a sud- den, rubber bullets and tear gas canisters exploded into the crowd.
In that exact moment, Justin Carr, 26, fell to the ground.
“The police were feeling threatened; in a matter of min- utes [of protesters assem- bling], rubber bullets, a flash bang and a concussion grenade went off,” said Tyson.
“I saw Justin stumble and fall,” continued Tyson, who was not acquainted with Carr. “I was standing on the left side of the Omni, and Justin was standing on the right side. I grabbed my medical bag and ran over there.”
Tyson, who was arrested last year with Bree New- some for removing the Con- federate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse, can be seen briefly assisting Carr in a video report from the New York Times.
“The left side of his temple was bleeding profusely,” Tyson told The Root. “And it’s important to say here that his feet were toward the Omni, head pointed away from the police, as if he had been shot from that direction, the direc- tion in which the rubber bul- lets came flying.”
As Carr lay bleeding on the ground, the intensity of the protests escalated.
“I was passing out large sur- gical pads, attempting to stabi- lize Justin’s spine and neck. Within a minute ... a minute at most passed and there was al-
ready about 1 liter of blood,” Tyson said.
“He said a couple of things and then trailed away,” Tyson continued. “I didn’t see any brain matter and cerebral fluid, just deep-red blood. The Fire Department came in riot gear; [they] failed to stabilize his neck or spine. They just carried him by hand.”
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department initially claimed that Carr was fatally shot by another civilian before backtracking on those claims in the wake of protesters’ maintaining that Carr was shot with rubber bullets by riot police. The Police Department also initially claimed that Carr died Wednesday, when, in fact, he was in critical con- dition and on life support.
Carr died from his injuries Thursday. Police Chief Kerr Putney announced Friday af- ternoon that Rayquan Borum, 21, has been charged with Carr’s murder.
“A real-time crime center was able to supply footage from cameras,” said Putney. “Currently we are still con- ducting the interview [of Borum] as the investigation continues, but we already have established probable cause and made that arrest.”
That footage has not been released, and Tyson is not buying it.
“I know they arrested a man, but I believe that the city is lying,” Tyson said. “I believe that the riot police were lying because they know they shot him.
“I own firearms,” Tyson continued. “I know what they sound like. A rifle didn’t go off. I did not see a pistol. I did not see any confrontation between protesters. All I saw were rub- ber bullets. I would testify in a court of law to what I believe to be the truth.”
A white police officer in Tulsa who was shown on video fatally shooting an unarmed black man has been charged with first-degree manslaugh- ter, authorities said on Thurs-
day.Tulsa District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler filed a “heat-of-passion” manslaugh- ter charge against officer Betty Shelby, nearly a week after cameras filmed her shooting 40-year-old Terence Crutcher as he stood beside his stalled SUV.
Shelby “reacted unreason- ably” and became “emotionally involved to the point that she overreacted,” the prosecutor’s office said in an affidavit.
She was formally arrested and booked into the Tulsa Jail at 1 a.m. Friday, according to county records. She posted a $50,000 bond and was re- leased from jail 20 minutes after she was booked.
Moments before they cap- tured footage of Crutcher’s death, police cameras recorded the father of four walking to- ward his car with his hands above his head while several of- ficers followed closely behind with weapons raised. He lin- gered at his vehicle’s driver’s side window, his body facing the SUV, before slumping to the ground a second later.
“Shots fired!” a female voice can be heard yelling in video footage released Monday, three days after the deadly en- counter.
Officer Betty Shelby fatally shot Terence Crutcher.
didnothaveagunonhimorin his vehicle.
The footage does not offer a clear view of when Shelby fired the shot that killed Crutcher. Her attorney, Scott Wood, has said Crutcher was not following police commands and that Shelby opened fire when the man began to reach through his window.
Wood told the Tulsa World that Shelby opened fire and that another officer used a stun gun when Crutcher’s “left hand goes through the car win- dow.”
Shelby is one of only a few female officers to be charged in a fatal shooting in the past decade. If convicted, she could face a minimum of four years in prison. In a statement, Okla- homa Gov. Mary Fallin (R) said she hopes the decision “provides some peace” to the Crutcher family and urged people to be patient as the case unfolds.
Manslaughter In Death Of Unarmed
Man; Bonds Out 20 Minutes Later
Tulsa police say Crutcher
Twin Confesses To 2003 Murder
His Brother Is Serving Time For
Twins: Karl Smith (Dugar) and Kevin Dugar.
Karl Smith (Dugar) took the witness stand at the Leighton Criminal Court Build- ing in Chicago Thursday and made a confession that stunned those present.
Smith admitted to commit- ting a 2003 murder for which his identical twin, Kevin Dugar, was put behind bars.
“I’m here to confess to a crime I committed that he was wrongly accused of,” Smith testified, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Despite the confession, pros- ecutors are skeptical, noting that Smith is currently serving a 99-year prison sentence for his participation in a 2008 home invasion and armed rob- bery in which a 6-year-old boy was shot in the head. Smith, the Tribune reports, only came forward with his admission after an appeals court upheld his conviction for attempted murder.
“He’s got nothing to lose,” Assistant State’s Attorney Carol Rogala said, telling
Judge Vincent Gaughan that Smith’s confession didn’t “fit the independent eyewitness accounts of what happened.”
According to the Tribune, the two brothers look so alike that even on Thursday they were distinguished only by their prison clothes. The broth- ers have different last names because Smith adopted their mother’s maiden name.
Growing up they dressed alike until eighth grade, and regularly impersonated each other for years afterward. Ac- cording to the brothers’ mother and Smith, they were so close growing up, they were “one person” who shared socks, shoes and sandwiches.
As they got older, Smith ad- mitted that he and his brother were gang members who dealt drugs.
“We was acting as one,” Smith testified. “Where I was, he was, acting like each other. He pretended to be me, and I pretended to be him.”
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