An Oklahoma policeman who was acquitted after shooting at an unarmed black man was killed

May 3, 2019, 20:45 UTC

By Ben Kesslen

A white policeman from Oklahoma who was acquitted after the shooting death of a black man without arms is currently teaching gun lessons through the NRA.

Betty Shelby, the former Tulsa police officer who shot Terence Crutcher in September 2016, said she had shot her in self-defense. The video of the shooting showed Crutcher holding his hands above his head before the shooting. Crutcher then seems to reach his vehicle, which allowed Shelby to open fire. She was charged with manslaughter in 2016, but acquitted by a jury in 2017.

Shelby was commissioned after the shooting, a position for which she resigned two months after her acquittal. "Sitting behind a desk … is just not for me," Shelby said in a statement issued by her union at the time, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 93.

Shelby now has a new job: teaching firing courses for the NRA.

According to the NRA website and a Facebook event dedicated to the course, Shelby will be teaching on May 11th, the $ 85 NRA basic pistol shooting course at the US Shooting Academy in Tulsa. The Facebook event indicates that participants "will need a minimum of 100 rounds of ammo" to participate.

The event page on Facebook has been posted by Shelby's ISWB, LLC, which indicates on its Facebook profile that it is "dedicated to providing concrete training to law enforcement and security forces." to civilians ". ISWB stands for "I Stand With Betty", a slogan adopted by Tulsa Police Offices after Shelby was accused of Crutcher's death.

Scott Wood, Shelby's lawyer, told NBC News that he thought his client was teaching this course because it allowed him to do something about his former career in the police field.

"It's the most basic class you can use with any type of firearm, it's really for people who have never used a firearm, or even shot with a firearm." firearm before, "Wood said.

Wood said Shelby was teaching in other courses, such as tactical medicine and first aid in the field, claiming that she was certified by the NRA as a certified instructor. "She has a passion for teaching and training."

Damario Solomon-Simmons, the Crutcher family's lawyer, said his clients were "horrified" to learn that Shelby was teaching the gun class.

"For her, teaching firearms safety and firearms courses is the ultimate slap," said Solomon-Simmons, adding that the class taught one day before Mother's Day was particularly difficult for the mother of Crutcher.

Vincent Southerland, director of the Center on Race, Inequality and Law at NYU Law, agrees.

"Betty Shelby is the last person in the world who should be involved in training people how and when to shoot with a gun," Southerland told NBC News. "When she met Mr. Crutcher, she did not see a defenseless motorist or a person in distress – she saw a threat, without any objective reason for seeing it that way. This is not someone who should be close to a firearm, regardless of his acquittal. "

Solomon-Simmons said he and the Crutcher family were particularly troubled to see Shelby "using her celebrity" for profit, while "the only reason people know who Betty Shelby is is because she was filmed killing an unarmed and non-violent individual. "

Wood acknowledged the controversy surrounding the fact that his client was teaching the course. "Whatever she tried to do, there was always whiplash. There is just a certain group of people who are not going to be happy no matter what it does. "

The NRA did not respond to NBC News's request for comment.