Ex-Tulsa police officer Betty Jo Shelby was responding to a 911 call back in 2016 when she spotted a Black man on the side of the road and pulled over. Terence Crutcher, who was 40 years old, was standing outside his stalled SUV, but a quick interaction between the two would launch a ten-year legal battle after Crutcher was shot to death.
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Video of the 2016 incident was captured by multiple police body cameras and a helicopter, which according to reports was being piloted by Shelby’s husband. He can even be heard saying “that looks like a bad dude” before tragedy struck.
According to the footage, Crutcher began walking to his vehicle, and then he reached inside his driver’s side window. That’s when Shelby and several other officers on the scene fired their department issued weapons and ultimately killed Crutcher.
Ten years have passed, and Crutcher’s family are still dealing with what they say is an injustice that needs to be remedied. That’s why they sued Shelby and the City of Tulsa in June 2017, just a month after a jury found the former cop not guilty of manslaughter, according to Newsweek.
Shelby ended up leaving her position in Tulsa for another role as a deputy at the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office, the outlet also reported. She maintained her innocence, saying she feared Crutcher was reaching inside of his SUV to grab a firearm. A full investigation later found Crutcher was unarmed at the time of his killing.
Despite protests erupting across the country and his family’s lawsuit, the Department of Justice eventually closed their federal investigation into Crutcher’s death. Now, however, his family might get the justice they’ve been searching for after a court ruled the civil lawsuit against Shelby can move forward.
“This moment did not come easy, it came after a decade of unimaginable loss,” Crutcher’s sister, Tiffany, said. “There were days when justice felt far away and days when hope was tested in ways I never thought I could endure and yet we did not give up.”
The March 30 appeals court decision read, “The Estate brought a Fourth Amendment excessive-force claim against Shelby, a wrongful-death claim under Oklahoma law against the City, and Monell claims against the City for unconstitutional policies and practices resulting in Crutcher’s death.”
Crutcher was a father and church-goer, according to NBC 5 News. After celebrating his 40th birthday with his twin sister, Crutcher reportedly sent her a message which read, “I’m gonna show you, I’m gonna make you all proud.”
Now, she’s making sure his legacy is not forgotten. “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice,” she said, quoting Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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