A newspaper in Tulsa (OK) recently published a story titled, “Throwback Tulsa, 50 years ago, TPD Officer Acquitted In Killing of Fleeing Teenager.”
While law enforcement has become accustomed to being attacked with misleading headlines and vicious lies in the mainstream media, this appears to be a new low, even for the media.
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Just weeks after Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby was arrested for manslaughter after she shot an unarmed black man that reportedly was refusing her commands, the local newspaper is seizing on those emotions with this headline….from five decades ago!
Here are just a few of the reader comments:
“…looks like this BS has been going on for a very long time!!”
“That was 50 years ago. Things like this were much easier to cover up back then and it was standard practice. He’d get thrown in jail today.”
While the Tulsa World may have duped many of it’s readers, they are leaving out an important fact that makes this no story at all.
In 1966, it was legal for any police officer in America to shoot a fleeing felon, whether that was in the back or anywhere else.
In fact, it wasn’t until 1985, under Tennessee v. Garner, that the practice came to a halt but not a complete halt.
Fleeing felons can still be shot by law enforcement under the Garner Ruling when “the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.”
Then again, the newspaper knows this but that isn’t going to stop them from keeping the emotions high in a city that has recently dealt with a high profile shooting.
The shooting was wrong in 1966 you say? Well, not according to the Supreme Court but the Court evolves with time and they have on this issue as well. It was a good decision by the United States Supreme Court then. Just like other good decisions by the Court that have evolved with time for the good of our society.
The Tulsa Police Department and many other agencies recognized the issues with this legal practice and did away with the practice of shooting all fleeing felons before the Supreme Court Decision became binding in 1985 but once again, there is no need to report on that either.
After all, what good is a story if you present all of the facts.