

An officer fatally shot a black man who didn’t do anything violent towards him.

Officer Ray Tensing pulled over Samuel DuBose to ask why he didn’t have his front license plate.

Here’s a dialog occurred between the men during the encounter.

Tensing: “Hey, how’s it going, man?”

DuBose: “Hi, how’s it going?”

Tensing asks DuBose for his license, but DuBose struggles to find his license. At one point, DuBose hands Tensing a bottle labeled “gin” from the car floor.

Tensing: “I’m going to ask you again. Do you have your license on you?”

DuBose: “I have my license. Run my name.”

DuBose’s car didn’t have a front license plate, the officer tells him.

DuBose: “But it’s not illegal to not have a front tag.”

Tensing: “Actually, it is.”

Tensing: “Be straight up with me: Are you suspended?”

DuBose: “No, I’m not suspended.” (In fact, DuBose was driving on a suspended license, according to records with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.)

DuBose was instructed to take off his seat belt. The officer attempted to open the door of DuBose’s car. When reached into the car, Tensing pulled his gun and fired a fatal shot in the chest of DuBose. The man was able to drive for a small period of time before his car crashed.

The officer insisted that he was dragged by the car and thought he was going to get run over which forced him to fire his weapon.