Tulsa leaders urge peace after police officer is acquitted in mans death

TULSA — Tulsa leaders on Thursday called for a peaceful response to a jury’s decision to acquit a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man, and said more must be done to fight racial divisions in Oklahoma’s second-largest city.

The comments came after a jury on Wednesday found Tulsa officer Betty Shelby not guilty of manslaughter. She said she shot of fear Sept. 16 when she killed Terence Crutcher, who had his hands held above his head.

The initial reaction from the community in the hours after Wednesday night’s verdict was peaceful. About 100 demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse and some briefly blocked a main street, but police kept a relatively low profile, standing about a block away.

Mayor G.T. Bynum said at a news conference Thursday that he respected the jury’s decision, while also calling Tulsa’s racial divide the city’s greatest moral issue.

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