Video Of John Crawford’s Girlfriend Being Aggressively Questioned After Ohio Police Shot Him Dead
After the shooting death of John Crawford, 22, by police, authorities aggressively questioned his visibly distraught girlfriend.
Police officer Sean Williams shot Crawford, a black man, while he held a BB gun in an Ohio Walmart store.
[su_center_ad]While being questioned, an officer accused Tasha Thomas of lying and he even suggested that she was high on drugs.
The Guardian reports:
She was reduced to swearing on the lives of her relatives that John Crawford III had not been carrying a firearm when they entered the Walmart in Beavercreek, near Dayton, to buy crackers, marshmallows and chocolate bars on the evening of 5 August.
“You lie to me and you might be on your way to jail,” Detective Rodney Curd told Thomas as she wept and repeatedly offered to take a lie-detector test.
It was after more than an hour and a half of questioning that Curd finally told Thomas that Crawford had died.
“As a result of his actions, he is gone,” the officer said.
A customer called 911 and claimed that John Crawford was pointing a gun at passersby.
According to surveillance footage, that was hardly true.
Crawford was seen in the video picking up the BB rifle from a shelf, then wandering the aisles while occasionally swinging the gun at his side as he spoke on his cellphone to his ex-girlfriend.
A 94-minute police video recording, released to the Guardian by the office of Mike DeWine, the Ohio attorney general, in response to a public records request, shows Thomas, 26, being interviewed by Curd after she was driven from Walmart to the Beavercreek police department. Curd later told investigators he had not yet been told Crawford only had a BB gun that had been on sale at the store.
Curd promptly asked Thomas whether she and Crawford had criminal records. Already tearful and breathless, Thomas explained that she may have had some traffic offences and had been arrested for petty theft as a juvenile.
At one point, Curd banged on the table in front of them with his hand and said, “Tell me where he got the gun from.”
But, Ms. Thomas said Crawford was only carrying only a white plastic grocery bag when they arrived at Walmart to buy the ingredients to make s’mores at a family cook-out.
After being asked several times if Crawford owned a gun, Thomas said, “Not that I know.”
Curd went on to tell her, “Don’t tell me ‘not that you know’, because that’s the first thing I realize somebody’s not telling me the truth”.
Again he told the woman, “You need to tell me the truth” and “You need to be truthful.”
Curd repeatedly suggested to Thomas that LeeCee Johnson, the mother of John’s two sons, who was actually at home in Cincinnati, may also have been in the Walmart store and that Crawford was there to attack her.
“Did he ever mention ‘I’m going to shoot that bitch’ or something like that?” Curd asked Thomas.
Curd went on to ask Ms. Thomas if she was intoxicated, asking her: “Have you been drinking? Drugs? Your eyes are kind of messed-up looking.”
Watch:
Like recent cases, a grand jury decided in September that Williams and another officer involved should not face criminal charges.
Spot the irony:
The Guardian reports, “Crawford’s family and their attorneys have stressed since his death that under Ohio’s open-carry firearms laws and Walmart’s regulations, he would have been allowed to carry a real rifle with him around the store.”
H/T: LL Mod God @Mea_Mark with thanks. [su_csky_ad]
mea_mark December 14th, 2014 at 7:59 pm
It seems the police will do just about anything to defend their actions and create a narrative that will hide their crimes. We need an organization that does nothing but investigates the police in this nation.
whatthe46 December 14th, 2014 at 8:04 pm
i didn’t watch the video, reading what was said and done to her made me sick enough. this has got to end. yes, they were desperately attempting to justify murder. and i’m very pissed at the sob that called it in and lied. if i were the family of this man, i would file suit against him. would he have called if crawford were white. i hope he never has a peaceful sleep the rest of his miserable life.
Carla Akins December 14th, 2014 at 8:56 pm
There was in an in-depth article about the young man that called 911 but I don’t recall who ran it. He should have been held criminally responsible.
whatthe46 December 14th, 2014 at 9:58 pm
exactly. for calling in a false report.
whatthe46 December 14th, 2014 at 10:07 pm
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/26/walmart-ohio-shooting-charges-911-calller-john-crawford
read this article. it will blow your fk’n mind. here’s a taste:
“The children who Ritchie appeared to claim were under threat from Crawford were in the store with their mother, Angela Williams. Williams, 37, died of a heart attack in the panic that ensued among customers following the police shooting. “I hope that he’s happy with himself,” her teenage son said of Ritchie in a Facebook post earlier this month.”
***
“In January 2012, Ritchie pleaded guilty in the Montgomery County municipal court to theft. All records of the incident have been expunged by the court and the Huber Heights police department. In 2010 he was fined $250 and given a year’s probation after being convicted by Miamisburg municipal court of possession of drug paraphernalia.”
tracey marie December 14th, 2014 at 8:37 pm
far to much lies, deflection and violence from the cops. It will not end because they are allowed to kill without any consequences
tiredoftea December 14th, 2014 at 8:41 pm
Darth Cheney would be proud! Well, except that it was only psychological torture, not the kind that he prefers.
whatthe46 December 14th, 2014 at 8:55 pm
“Have you been drinking? Drugs? Your eyes are kind of messed-up looking.” she’s been crying, what a sorry p.o.s.
Carla Akins December 14th, 2014 at 8:59 pm
I understand that the police are allowed to lie to gain a confession, but this was way beyond outrageous. I guess it’s too much to hope for that they would be held responsible for their actions here – since they aren’t even held responsible for Crawford’s death.
Budda December 14th, 2014 at 9:18 pm
People need to understand they DON’T have to talk to the police. Just say I want to speak to a lawyer, don’t ask me any questions, am I free to go, if not what am I charged with? Don’t say anything, don’t even shake your head.
tracey marie December 14th, 2014 at 9:26 pm
True, but that poor woman was traumatized by the killing of her boyfriend and then intimidated and verbally beaten by the cop.
whatthe46 December 14th, 2014 at 9:57 pm
yeah. its easier said than done. especially when in that state.
rg9rts December 15th, 2014 at 7:23 am
pitty pad skimper skamper
tracey marie December 15th, 2014 at 12:13 pm
damn kitty
lafrique December 15th, 2014 at 12:47 am
These murderous, lying police employees act as if they want somebody to retaliate.
rg9rts December 15th, 2014 at 7:23 am
Advanced thuggery 102
edmeyer_able December 15th, 2014 at 8:49 am
“As a result of his actions, he is gone,” the officer said.
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More like as a result of their stupidity and bias.
And the lack of any justice in this case let’s 2 more killers walk among us.