Shooting of Samuel DuBose Information

On July 19, 2015, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Samuel DuBose, an unarmed black man, was fatally shot by Ray Tensing, a white University of Cincinnati police officer, during a traffic stop for a missing front license plate and a suspended drivers license. Tensing fired after DuBose started his car. Tensing stated that DuBose had begun to drive off and that he was being dragged because his arm was caught in the car. Prosecutors alleged that footage from Tensings bodycam showed that he was not dragged, and a grand jury indicted him on charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter. He was then fired from the police department. He was released on bond before trial. A November 2016 trial ended in mistrial after the jury became deadlocked. A retrial begun in May 2017 also ended in a hung jury. The charges against Tensing were later dismissed with prejudice.

Samuel "Sam" Vincent DuBose (March 12, 1972 – July 19, 2015), a 43-year-old black man, was a rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and motorcycle enthusiast. He was the founder of a motorcycle club, Ruthless Riders. He attended high school in Cincinnati and was the father of 13 children. Between 1995 and 2009 he was charged thirteen times for not having a license and four times for not having a proper license plate. He also served less than a year in a state prison on a 2005 marijuana trafficking charge.

Raymond Tensing (born November 13, 1989), a white police officer who was 25 years old at the time of the shooting, had four years of law enforcement experience. He joined the University of Cincinnati Police Department (UCPD) in April 2014, having previously been an officer with the department of Greenhills, Ohio. He had left the Ohio State Highway Patrols training academy after attending for just one day. According to a highway patrol spokesman, he was unable to adapt to the physical and mental requirements.

Tensing graduated cum laude with a degree in criminal justice from University of Cincinnati Clermont College in 2012 and had a clean performance record. He was involved in a fight in August 2010, a few weeks after he completed his training at the police academy. Tensing conducted an independent investigation of the incident, was described as being unhappy with the Cincinnati Police Departments handling of the case, and was noted for his aggressive attitude at the time. As a result of his investigation, the case against other combatants was dismissed.

The University of Cincinnati Police Department is certified by the state of Ohio and has full police authority throughout the state. They focus their patrols areas on three campuses and the areas around them. UCPD officers receive 616 hours of training at the police academy, plus 80 of rookie training, while city police officers spend 1,040 hours in training. Since the UCPDs patrol area was expanded to include neighboring areas in 2009, the number of reported crimes in those areas was cut in half by 2014. Officers increased their traffic stops on- and off-campus, tripling the number from 2012 to 2015. Of its 72 officers, 4 are African American and 1 is Asian American. Unlike the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD), the UCPD was not included in federally mandated reforms following the nearby riots of 2001 that had been in reaction to a shooting of a young black man by city police. One UCPD chief resigned in 2013 amid reported low morale, and he was not replaced immediately. Two other black men had been killed by UCPD officers, both with Tasers: a mental patient in 2010 and a student in 2011.

At 6:30 p.m., on Rice Street near Thill Street in the Mount Auburn district, Tensing was patrolling off-campus when he stopped DuBose for failure to display a front license plate, which is a primary offense for vehicles with Ohio license plates. The incident was recorded on Tensings bodycam, which he activated before the traffic stop.

Seen in the bodycam video, Tensing repeatedly requests a drivers license and DuBose replies that he has a drivers license, then stating that he does not have it with him. Tensing asks, "Are you suspended?" Tensing starts to open the drivers door and orders DuBose to remove his seat belt. DuBose pulls the door closed, starts the engine, and puts the car in drive. Within the next few seconds, Tensing reaches into the car with his left hand, yells "Stop! Stop!", draws his pistol with his right hand, and fires once striking DuBose. Sources differed as to whether the car was moving before the shot was fired. According to the Kroll Report, "it is difficult to determine with precision how much, if at all, the car moved [prior to the gunshot], but whatever movement may have occurred appears to have been minimal."

After firing, Tensing falls away from the vehicle which accelerates as he and two other officers run after it. After travelling about 400 feet (120 m), the vehicle collided into a telephone pole and came to a stop. After the officers reach the car, the video shows DuBose inside with a gunshot wound to his head. The county coroners preliminary autopsy results, released on July 31, confirmed that as the cause of death.

In bodycam footage, Tensing repeatedly tells other officers that he was dragged when his arm became caught in the car, possibly in the steering wheel. In the police report that he filed after the incident, he stated that he was dragged, forcing him to fire his weapon. Through lawyers, he released a public statement that he was afraid that he would be run over. On July 29, authorities released Tensings bodycam video, which, according to prosecutors, shows that Tensing was not dragged.

A day after the shooting, it was reported that DuBose was driving on an indefinitely suspended drivers license, and had four bags and a jar of marijuana and about $2,600 cash in the car.

UCPD officers Phillip Kidd and David Lindenschmidt arrived at the scene just after the gunshot. In his bodycam video, Kidd is heard supporting Tensings statement that he was dragged by the car. According to County Prosecutor Joe Deters, neither officer stated in his official statement to Cincinnati police that he saw Tensing being dragged. Officer-in-Training Lindenschmidt, who had started working in the field only that month, made what have been called "rookie mistakes" in picking up Tensings fallen flashlight and moving Tensings vehicle.

Eric Weibel, a UCPD officer who did not witness the shooting, stated in a report that Tensings uniform looked like he had been dragged.

The CPD took over the investigation soon after they were called to the scene.

On July 29, Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Deters stated in a press conference that the shooting was "asinine" and "senseless". He said that DuBose was not acting violently or aggressively. With "an abundance of caution in anticipation" of Deters announcement, the University of Cincinnati closed its Uptown and Medical campuses at 11:00 a.m. The campuses resumed normal operations the next day.

On July 31, the Fraternal Order of Police–Ohio Labor Council, a union that represents UCPD employees, filed a grievance asking that Tensing be reinstated to his position on the police force, asserting that he was terminated "without just cause". Resolution of the grievance is postponed pending the outcome of the criminal case.

In the wake of the shooting, Deters called for the disbandment of the UCPD force and its replacement with city police officers. The incident also drew attention to the presence of armed law enforcement on college campuses.There was some public and academic criticism of Deters comments, on the basis that his rhetoric would jeopardize Tensings right to a fair trial and that they were anti-police.

The Chief of the CPD said that the memorandum of understanding, signed in 2009 by his predecessor, which allowed UCPD to patrol areas neighboring the university, should be revoked. He said, "I dont believe their officers have the skill set to police Cincinnati with the same philosophy of fairness and cultural competency that my officers display."

The body camera recording of Tensing shooting DuBose has garnered considerable attention. The footage has been compared to a first-person-shooter video game and described as so "disturbing" that Cincinnati police prepared for large protests and riots before the footages release.

As of July 30, at least four demonstrations have been held around the country in response to DuBoses death. A Black Lives Matter vigil and rally in support of DuBose was held in Cincinnati on July 31, the third such event since the shooting. The victims mother said, "As long as we stand up for the righteous, we going to be OK. I would come out here every night, I will go city to city because now Im involved, my child was involved." Participants chanted "I am Sam DuBose." Around 300 participants subsequently walked through Over-the-Rhine to Fountain Square. Six people were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest during the march. One hundred protesters joined a "United March for Justice" on September 19, linking DuBoses killing with the deaths of Tamir Rice, John Crawford, and Samantha Ramsey.

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