The Militant - August 17, 2015 -- Cincinnati cop is indicted for killing Samuel DuBose

Vol. 79/No. 29 August 17, 2015

Cincinnati cop is indicted
for killing Samuel DuBose

BY DAN FEIN
CINCINNATI — In response to protests and outrage here and the cumulative impact of more than a year of protests against police brutality across the country, a grand jury indicted University of Cincinnati cop Ray Tensing on murder and manslaughter charges for the July 19 shooting death of 43-year-old Samuel DuBose, an African-American.

On July 30 Tensing, who is Caucasian, pleaded not guilty. Bond was set at $1 million, which was posted later that day. His next court date is scheduled for Aug. 19.

DuBose was stopped by Tensing for not having a front license plate on his car. A video from Tensing’s body camera shows that after some back and forth discussion over the license plate and DuBose’s driver’s license, DuBose inches the car forward and Tensing pulls out his gun and shoots DuBose in the head.

After the shooting, the video records Tensing saying, “He was just dragging me. I thought I was going to get run over. I was trying to stop him.” Another cop is heard replying, “Yeah, I saw that.”

At a news conference, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters played footage of the traffic stop shooting that contradicted Tensing’s version of what happened.

“People want to believe that Mr. DuBose had done something violent towards the officer — he did not. He did not at all.” When a reporter asked Deters if he thought Tensing tried to mislead investigators, he replied, “Yes. I think he was making an excuse for a purposeful killing.”

Rev. Ennis Tait, a pastor of the Church of the Living God, where DuBose’s funeral was held July 28, told the Militant, “There was no justification for the stop. There was no justification for the shooting. It is another case of racial profiling.” The funeral had 500 inside the church and 300 outside, Tait said.

“The demonstrations here raise the voice for justice,” he said, but a July 31 candlelight vigil and march “ended with cops arresting people for just yelling and screaming at the cops. Tensions are brewing between police and Blacks here.”

“If it were not for that video camera, Sam would be no different” than all the other unindicted police shootings of Black men, Terina Allen, DuBose’s sister, said at a press conference, “because the second officer was ready to corroborate every lie that the first officer said in the report.”

Two University of Cincinnati police officers, Phillip Kidd and David Lindenschmidt, who witnessed the shooting and backed up Tensing’s story, were not indicted.

“This was not right,” Mandy Rogers, 28, told the Militant at the memorial to Samuel DuBose at the corner of Valencia and Rice streets, the scene of the killing. “Mr. DuBose’s family needs to see justice. He didn’t do anything. He was stopped illegally.” Rogers was one of many who stopped by to pay their respects Aug. 2.

Tait told the Militant a little about DuBose. “He had 13 children, all of whom came to the funeral. Sam was a volunteer at a nursing home and a musician. He liked to ride motorcycles.”

“The justice system does not respect Black men,” Tait said. “Are the police above the law?”

Ebony Morris, 30, a health care giver, lives on the street where the killing took place. “When they released the tape,” she said, “it brought tears to my eyes. He and Sandra Bland [in Texas] died over something so simple. The police do not protect and serve us. The two cops lied about the dragging.” Morris said many people from all races have come to the memorial.

Alyson Kennedy contributed to this article.