Bodycam shows chilling moments before deadly traffic stop
Newly released bodycam video reveals the moment a murder-accused police officer pulled a man over for a routine traffic stop before ‘purposefully killing him’.
The officer has been charged with murder, with a prosecutor saying the officer “purposely killed him” and “should never have been a police officer.”
University of Cincinnati campus police officer Ray Tensing initially told investigators that he shot Sam DuBose in the head after DuBose tried to drive away and dragged the officer along with him. But a review of the officer’s body camera footage showed Tensing was never in danger during the July 19 incident. Tensing, 25, had been a police officer for four years, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
“You will not believe how quickly he pulls his gun and shoots him in the head. It’s maybe a second. It’s incredible. And so senseless,” Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters said as he prepared to release the video. “I think he lost his temper because Mr DuBose wouldn’t get out of his vehicle.”
Newly released bodycam video reveals the moment a murder-accused police officer pulled a man over for a routine traffic stop before ‘purposefully killing him’. Photo: LiveLeak
The video shows Tensing approach the black car and ask DuBose for his license and registration.
DuBose calmly asks why he was pulled over and eventually tells Tensing that he left his license at home.
Then – less than two minutes into the exchange – DuBose reaches for the keys and Tensing can be heard shouting “STOP! STOP!”
In the blink of an eye, a gun pops into view and DuBose slumps over in his seat. The video bounces as Tensing chases after the car as it rolls down the street. DuBose died instantly, Deters said.
“He wasn’t dealing with someone who was wanted for murder – he was dealing with someone with a missing license plate,” he told reporters.
“This is in the vernacular a pretty chicken crap stop.”
The video shows Tensing approach the black car and ask DuBose for his license and registration. DuBose calmly asks why he was pulled over and eventually tells Tensing that he left his license at home. Photo: LiveLeak
Deters continued: “If he started rolling away, seriously, let him go. You don’t have to shoot him in the head.”
The case comes as the United States grapples with heightened racial tensions in the wake of a series of high-profile incidents of African Americans being killed by police in disputed circumstances.
Deters said he hopes the swift action by his office will show that justice is being done in this case.
“I feel so sorry for his family and I feel sorry for the community,” Deters said.
Tensing should never have been allowed to carry a badge and gun, Deters said, adding that the University of Cincinnati should hand policing duties over to the city’s force.
A prosecutor said University of Cincinnati campus police officer Ray Tensing “should never have been a police officer”. Photo: AFP
“This is the most asinine act I have ever seen a police officer make,” he said.
“It was totally unwarranted and it’s an absolute tragedy that in 2015 anyone would behave in this manner.”
The university shut down its campus and placed barricades at entrances out of concern that the news could lead to protest or even violence.
City officials pressed for peace and said they were prepared “for any scenarios that present themselves.”
A series of sometimes violent protests have broken out across the United States in response to other high-profile police shootings over the past year.
Cincinnati was struck by days of violent unrest following the police shooting of an unarmed black man in 2001.
University of Cincinnati campus police officer Ray Tensing initially told investigators that he shot Sam DuBose in the head after DuBose tried to drive away and dragged the officer along with him. Photo: LiveLeak
“There is obviously reason for people to be angry,” Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said.
Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley
“Everyone has the right to peacefully protest, but we will not tolerate lawlessness.”
With great dignity, DuBose’s family asked people to respect his memory by responding peacefully as they vowed to continue to fight for justice in policing.
“My brother was about to be just one other stereotype and now that’s not going to happen,” Terina Allen, DuBose’s sister, told reporters.
“I’m as pleased as I can be that we’re actually getting some kind of justice for Sam.”
One can only wonder at such restraint.
#blacklivesmatter
Well, This Is What I Think 
No. Of course not.
From http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/27/1406039/-The-racist-nightmare-that-is-Fox-Noise-in-a-nutshell
“Spot the difference”
Last year, a Nevada rancher who boasts that he doesn’t “recognize the United States
government as even existing” become a hero of Fox News pundits and other conservative
commentators for refusing to pay grazing fees he owes the government.
But when a black woman named Sandra Bland was forced out of her car and to the ground by a
Texas police officer after she reportedly failed to signal during a lane switch and declined to put
out a cigarette, Fox News thinks this is a time to lecture viewers on how to be respectful to law
enforcement. Bland later died in police custody in what investigators ruled was a suicide. –
And regarding “’This is the most asinine act I have ever seen a police officer make,’ he said.” Ummm – more asinine than throwing a stun grenade into a sleeping baby’s crib? http://thefreethoughtproject.com/baby-critically-burned-swat-raid-stun-grenade-thrown-crib/
I have continued since the sixties to be amazed at the grace and restraint and Christian virtue shown by black people in America. Our black citizens personify “Amazing Gace.” I dso not get why other white people are not hanging their heads in shame and down on their knees, not begging forgiveness because we don’t deserve it, but expressing horror, sorrow, and guilt. I. do. not. get. it.
I do get that something needs to be done.
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I think charges of racism are thrown around too quickly, sometimes, and too loosely, but there is a clear trend here which needs to be addressed. It is, quite clearly, a matter of both training and cultural awareness. There were innumerable options available to this officer rather than blowing the young man’s head off. Why did he choose to shoot? Without prejudging the case, I suspect he will spend a lifetime in jail pondering that.
Some years ago in Victoria we had a series of police shootings that caused great community concern. Intensive re-training was the response, and as a result the police’s use of deadly force has fallen dramatically.
Plenty of white people protest on social media about heavy-handed policing, and traffic policing especially. If those people could appreciate that the problem is much more severe for black people than white, as testified to by innumerable cases, this shameful litany of death would slow down or end.
There is no death penalty for starting a car, even if you intend to drive off.
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I hadn’t seen this latest murder (for that it what it was) so I was truly shocked and appalled beyond words to read this article. I am deeply relieved that for once this murderer is being prosecuted as so many of them are strangely let off by grand juries. I thank God that he was wearing a bodycam, as that showed what he was up to – blessings on the police department that makes them wear them.
God bless Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters if he manages to get a conviction and a long, long, long prison sentence for DuBose’s murderer. These murders have got to stop.
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