The events in Eric Weibel's police report (PDF) for the shooting death of Sam Dubose, a black American, are not the same as those recorded by the body cam worn by the officer, Ray Tensing, who shot him.
In the police report, Weibel writes:
Officer Tensing stated that he was attempting a traffic stop (No front license plate) when, at some point, he began to be dragged by a male black driver who was operating a 1998 Green Honda Accord...
But what we see in the video is no dragging at all. It appears the officer attempts to open the driver-side door. Dubose closes the door and we hear him turning the key in the ignition, as if he's about to drive away, but the very moment the engine roars to life, the officer appears to shoot him dead.
That is not at all what happens in the police report. Here's the police report:
Officer Tensing stated that he almost was run over by the driver of the Honda Accord and was forced to shoot the driver with his duty weapon (Sig Sauer P320). Officer Tensing stated that he fired a single shot. Officer Tensing repeated that he was being dragged by the vehicle and had to fire his weapon. The vehicle came to a final stop at the corner of Rice Street and Valencia Street. From outside the vehicle, I could see a Male Black slumped over motionless with a gunshot wound to his head.
Another curious detail about the police report is that another officer who claims to be a witness backs up Tensing's version of events (a version of events that is not substantiated by the video). The police report says:
Officer Kidd was on scene... Officer Kidd told me that he witnessed the Honda Accord drag Officer Tensing, and that he witnessed Officer Tensing fire a single shot.
It may be that the order of events in that last sentence should be switched—the shot came first, and then the dragging. Otherwise, it's not just one but two officers who appear to be lying.
One thing is clear: Dubose never attacks the officer who shoots him in the head, but he does appear to try to cover his face the moment before he is shot. Meanwhile, Tensing appears to fall away—it is unclear exactly what is going on the moment after the shooting—and the car moves off-screen. The officer stands and runs to where the car, most likely ghost-driven, crashed.
How was officer Tensing almost "run over" when he was never in front of the Dubose's car? Where did the pain Tensing reported feeling in his arm come from? And why did another officer, Officer Kidd, reiterate the story about the dragging? The dragging—or its absence—puts this killing in league with the death of Sandra Bland, and the death of Eric Garner. In none of these cases are the official written reports consistent with the visual recordings.
But why in the world would an officer lie about something that will be revealed to the public on video? Why not just tell the truth and admit you panicked or something? Why does an officer who's wearing a body cam not understand that the lie will be exposed? This is a bit of a mystery. It's possible that Ray Tensing, who has was indicted for murder after a jury saw the video, and other officers like him, have not adapted to the age of public surveillance by body cams or smartphones.
If all of this has not made you wonder about that skateboard in the Olympia shooting or the reported charging in the death of Michael Brown, you are willfully refusing to acknowledge the proof that cops do not always tell the truth.
These videos offer irrefutable evidence: Cops do not always tell the truth.
