https://vimeo.com/184719060
More than a week after Terence Crutcher was shot to death by a Tulsa police officer, hundreds of people gathered, marched, prayed and sang during a day of events focused on justice and healing.
A throng of people gathered around the gleaming “Black Wall Street” memorial Tuesday afternoon, listening to speakers including the Rev. Al Sharpton, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, NAACP leaders, pastors and Crutcher’s family members.
“If you’re here for any other reason than justice and healing and love, you’re in the wrong place,” the Rev. Joey Crutcher told the assembled crowd.
Signs included “Justice4Crutch, “Black Lives Matter” and “I can not calm down, I have black sons!”
Terence’s twin sister, Alabama-native Tiffany Crutcher, said the family has received support from across the nation following her brother’s death. She introduced her late brother’s four children before leading the crowd in a rallying cry of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Al Sharpton speaks in Tulsa on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016. ZIVA BRANSTETTER/The Frontier
“They’ve been through so much and they’re standing with us in this movement. So hands up, don’t shoot!”
The family has been split since Crutcher was shot to death Sept. 16 by Tulsa police Officer Betty Shelby.
Three days after Crutcher’s death, his parents obtained an emergency guardianship over the couple’s three children, ages 4-15. They have since taken the children from Crutcher’s common-law wife, Frenchel Johnson.
Johnson has been named administrator of the estate but Crutcher’s parents, Joey and Leanne, have asked a judge to name them administrators instead. A hearing is scheduled for Friday.
At an evening rally at the Jazz Hall of Fame, Sharpton gave a rousing speech condemning police violence and calling on people of all races and classes to work together to end injustice. Sharpton closed the evening with a gospel-style chant about his mother’s struggle to escape poverty and care for her family.
