Betty Shelby, the Tulsa, OK cop who shot and killed Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man, just might be America’s next millionaire. She was recently indicted by the Tulsa County district attorney’s office, which found that she “reacted unreasonably” and became “emotionally involved to the point that she overreacted.”
The law in every jurisdiction in the country is crystal clear: Potentially lethal force cannot be used by law enforcement against an unarmed person who is posing no imminent threat to anyone. In other words, killing a black man for failing to comply with an order — such as to lay face down on the ground — is illegal in every instance.
If convicted, Shelby could be sentenced to life in prison. However, since this is America, when historical precedent in regards to extra judicial killings is taken into account, only a fool would believe that a white female cop is going to be convicted for killing a black man, no matter the circumstances. Cops rushing to hold court in the street is a time-honored tradition in this country.
Recall that when there was even the threat of an indictment of Darren Wilson for killing Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, a crowdsourcing page was put up on social media for his legal defense and the cop became an instant millionaire. When Wilson wasn’t indicted he got to walk away with the money, enriched for talking a black life.
My hunch is Shelby will be accorded the same treatment in terms of white America rushing to her defense financially, and when she’s acquitted, she’ll be able to ride comfortably off into the sunset, and even be given another job in law enforcement in some jurisdiction if that’s what her little heart desires.
In case after case, when the life taken is that of a black male, the grieving family might be compensated civilly at some point, but justice will rarely be served up in a criminal court, especially if the killer is a white cop. The track record of either no indictment or outright acquittal is long enough by now to make such a statement without equivocation.
And further, with the advent of these crowdfunding pages for white cops accused of killing black men, in essence a bounty has been placed on the heads of men of color. Not only will a white cop not be convicted when their victim is black, there’s a good chance they will be handsomely rewarded for doing the dirty deed.
These are indeed dangerous times for young black males in America, and according to the outcome of the presidential election they soon could get worse — far, far worse. Black folks, elections are critically important.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com
One Response to “MANSFIELD: America’s Next Millionaire?”
Cicero
Hey stupid. Did you know that 3000 blacks have been killed by other blacks in Chicago alone during Obama’s terms so far?
Apparently black lives don’t matter much to you.