Black man shot dead by police in Oklahoma
remembered in music-filled service
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[September 26, 2016]
By Kurt Steiss
TULSA, Okla. (Reuters) - An unarmed black
man shot and killed by a white police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was
remembered at a funeral service on Saturday as a father of four with a
good heart.
The solemn, music-filled service at Antioch Baptist Church for Terence
Crutcher, 40, drew hundreds of mourners, many of whom fanned themselves
or stood to sing and applaud on a warm evening in north Tulsa.
Crutcher's death last week and the fatal shooting of a black man earlier
this week by a police officer in North Carolina are two of the latest
officer-involved shootings to stoke concerns about biased policing in
the United States.
"We're not going to stop until we have full justice, say it, full
justice," Demario Solomon-Simmons, an attorney for the Crutcher family
and his former friend, told attendees, who responded by echoing his
words "full justice."
The funeral service came one day after Betty Shelby, the 42-year-old
Tulsa police officer who shot Crutcher on Sept. 16, was booked on a
first degree manslaughter charge. She is free on bond and faces at least
four years in prison if convicted.
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Tulsa police released two videos on Monday, one from a helicopter and
the other from a dashboard camera in a patrol car, which show Crutcher
holding his hands in the air shortly before he was shot in the chest
next to his vehicle. Police said Crutcher was unarmed and there was no
weapon in the vehicle.
Shelby was responding to a separate call for a domestic disturbance when
she saw Crutcher on the road. She told investigators that Crutcher
failed to comply with her instructions and she feared for her life,
according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
In one video, a police officer in audio from a helicopter says "that
looks like a bad dude too, could be on something."
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![](../images/092616pics/news_I15.jpg)
(L-R) Reverend Joey Crutcher, father of the Tulsa motorist who was
shot and killed by police Terence Crutcher, speaks while Rev. Al
Sharpton, attorney Benjamin Crump and Tiffany Crutcher stand during
a news conference a the National Action Network headquarters in New
York, U.S., September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
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Solomon-Simmons, in his speech at the funeral on Saturday, made
reference to those words, saying "Terence was a great dude, let’s
give it up for Terence."
Other speakers remembered Crutcher as a father of four with a good
heart who was going to school to improve his life.
Reverend Cortes Rex sang what he described as Crutcher's favorite
song, "My Soul Has Been Anchored in the Lord."
The service came hours after dozens of people gathered at the
courthouse plaza for a rally organized by Black Lives Matter
Oklahoma, the ACLU of Oklahoma, the NAACP and other groups.
(Writing by David Bailey and Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Leslie
Adler and Michael Perry)
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