"What's with all this "Black Lives Matter crap? Don't all lives matter?You Negroes kill me with this stuff. " ~Typical person from the majority population~
Of course all lives matter. But we don't have to keep reminding our American brothers and sisters about the white ones. They seem to be quite aware of that reality. The black ones, on the other hand, not so much.
Tonight my racism chase takes me to the city that gave us the "Big Red Machine".
It first started with a police officers report of a traffic stop and confrontation.
CINCINNATI - A white University of Cincinnati police officer said an unarmed black motorist was dragging him with his car and he feared he would be run over when he fired a single shot that killed the driver, according to the police incident report released Thursday.
That was the first statement by UC officer Ray Tensing to be made public about his shooting of Sam Dubose, 43, after a traffic stop in Mount Auburn on Sunday. Another UC officer backed up Tensing's account.
Tensing's radio call, also released Thursday, includes the officer shouting with alarm:
"Shots fired! Shots fired! ... We need a medic now!"
Then he clarifies for dispatch that the medic is not for him.
No, I'm not injured. I almost got run over by the car. He took off on me."
Gasping for breath, Tensing says:
"I discharged one round. (Pause). Struck the male in the head."
Another UC officer responding to the scene, Phillip Kidd, said he witnessed Dubose's 1998 Honda Accord dragging Tensing and Tensing firing one shot, according to the incident report. Another responding officer, David Lindenschmidt, apparently did not contribute to the report.
"It was unclear how much of this incident OIT Lindenschmidt witnessed," the report said.
The officer who filed the report, Eric Weibel, said he observed Tensing after the incident and wrote:
"I could see that the back of his pants and shirt looked as if he had been dragged over a rough surface." He said Tensing, 26, complained of pain in his left arm.
Weibel said he was patrolling the East Campus about 6:29 p.m. when he heard Tensing cry out on the radio.
Weibel wrote. Weibel said he drove south on Vine to Thill street and located Tensing and Dubose a block away at Rice and Valencia streets.
"Officer Tensing stated he was almost run over by the driver of the Honda Accord and was forced to shoot the driver with his service weapon (Sig Sauer P320). Officer Tensing stated that he fired a single shot," Weibel wrote. "The vehicle came to a final stop at the corner of Rice Street and Valencia Street. From outside the vehicle I could see a black male motionless with a gunshot wound to his head." [Source]
"Oh yes, that "motionless" black male. We have been seeing a lot of that lately.
Fortunately, in this case, there was a body camera recording the actions of Officer Tensing.
Oh wait....we can't go to the videotape just yet. Apparently it is "so bad" that the city of Cincinnati is bracing for bad things if the citizens of that city ever actually see it.
"Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell said he's seen the unreleased footage from a University of Cincinnati officer's body camera during last week's fatal shooting and "it's not good."
"The video is not good," Blackwell said. "I think the city manager has said that also publicly. I'll leave it there."
I know you would like us to "leave it there" Mr. Blackwell, but we can't.
Oh and while we are lamenting the tragic death of Sam Dubose. Let's not forget what happened to yet another woman who died in police custody, recently.
"Circle Bear was jailed on a bond violation at the Brown County Jail in Aberdeen. On Sunday, July 6, she was found unresponsive in a holding cell.
According to KELO, Circle Bear was taken to a nearby hospital where she died later that same day.
Witnesses said that when Circle Bear was transferred to the holding cell, she told guards that she was in excruciating pain. Jail personnel reportedly told her to “quit faking” and “knock it off” before lifting her partway off the floor and dragging her to the cell where she was later found unconscious.
According to Manning, “I recently learned about Sarah Lee Circle Bear while attending a family ceremonial gathering. A relative set out a memorial chair for Sarah, a tradition of the Dakota and Lakota people. Sarah’s story was shared, and the circle prayed for her and her family for four days.”
The 24-year-old left behind two infant sons, ages one and two.
Circle Bear’s family said that they await autopsy and toxicology reports." [Source]
As you can probably tell from her name, this latest victim of state brutality and ultimate killing is Native American.
May she, like Sandra Bland, rest in peace.
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