Hillary Clinton Calls Killing of Terence Crutcher "Unbearable, Intolerable"

By Kurtis Lee, Los Angeles Times

21 September 16

illary Clinton condemned the police shooting of an unarmed black man in Oklahoma last week, using the incident to reignite calls for criminal justice reform and to highlight racial biases in policing.

In an interview on the Steve Harvey Morning Show Tuesday, Clinton called the shooting of Terence Crutcher, 40, "unbearable" and "intolerable." Video footage shows Crutcher was unarmed with his hands visible when he was shot by Tulsa, Okla., police officers after his car broke down along a rural road.

"This horrible shooting — again. How many times do we have to see this in our country?” Clinton asked. “In Tulsa? An unarmed man? With his hands in the air? I mean, this is just unbearable and it needs to be intolerable.”

Clinton, who has emphasized that police departments should reflect the communities they serve, said more must be done to curb racial bias.

"You know, maybe I can, by speaking directly to white people, say, ‘Look, this is not who we are.’ We’ve got to do everything possible to improve policing, to go right at implicit bias,” Clinton said. “There are good, honorable, cool-headed police officers. ... We can do better. We have got to rein in what is absolutely inexplicable, and we’ve got to have law enforcement respect communities and communities respect law enforcement because they have to work together.”

Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has so far not commented on the shooting.

Trump has called himself the "law-and-order" candidate and last week secured the endorsement of the National Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest police union.

"Police are the most mistreated people in this country," Trump said at a GOP debate in January. "We have to give power back to the police because crime is rampant."