'Without Question A Murder': Ohio Cop Indicted for Killing Black Man During Traffic Stop

A white University of Cincinnati police officer was indicted Wednesday on a murder charge for fatally shooting Samuel DuBose, who is black, during a traffic stop on July 19.

“This is without question a murder,” Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said at a news conference announcing the charges against Officer Ray Tensing. “He purposefully killed him… He should never have been a police officer.”

The decision came after 12 Hamilton County citizens reviewed evidence all day Monday as part of a grand jury investigation into the incident, which occurred when Tensing pulled over DuBose for a missing front license plate.

Footage from Tensing’s body camera, also released Wednesday, “shows a routine traffic stop turning suddenly violent when DuBose leans toward the passenger seat and Tensing fires a single shot into his head,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. “DuBose did not appear to be belligerent or aggressive before the officer fired.”

“Some people want to believe Mr. DuBose did something violent toward the officer,” Deters said. “He did not. He did not at all.”