Trump 'troubled' by Oklahoma police shooting
- Published
Mr Trump says he was "very troubled" by the police shooting of an unarmed black man in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Donald Trump has expressed concern over the recent police killing of an unarmed black man in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Speaking to a crowd of black pastors at an Ohio church, the Republican nominee said he was "very, very troubled" by the shooting.
Terence Crutcher, 40, was shot dead by a white police officer while standing next to his stalled car last Friday.
His Democratic rival Hillary Clinton said: "This has got to end."
She has made the use of police force against African Americans a central plank of her campaign.
But Mr Trump has billed himself as the "law and order candidate", making his remarks stand out as a rare criticism of police actions.
The New York billionaire, who has been a vocal critic of the Black Lives Matter movement, received an endorsement by The Fraternal Order of Police on Friday.
"I must tell you, I watched the shooting in particular in Tulsa and that man was hands up. That man went to the car, hands up, put his hand on the car," Mr Trump said at the New Spirit Revival church in Cleveland Heights.
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Though Mr Trump said he was a "tremendous supporter of the police and law enforcement," he said Mr Crutcher "looked like somebody who was doing what they were asking him to do".
Tulsa police footage released on Monday showed armed police approaching as Mr Crutcher walked with his hands up before the shooting.
It is unclear where his hands were at the moment police opened fire.
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Police officials contend he repeatedly ignored the officers' commands before he allegedly reached into an open window of his car.
Betty Shelby, a white police officer, shot Mr Crutcher while another officer discharged his stun gun. Ms Shelby has been put on paid leave pending an investigation into the shooting.
"Now did she get scared? Was she choking? What happened?" Mr Trump surmised on Wednesday.
"But maybe people like that, people that choke, people that do that, maybe they can't be doing what they're doing."
Mr Crutcher, pictured here with his sister Tiffany
Ms Shelby's attorney, Scott Wood, has said his client believed Mr Crutcher was acting like he was under the influence of PCP, a synthetic drug, and was reaching into his car for a weapon.
Police confirmed on Tuesday that a vial of PCP was found in the car, but no gun was found on Mr Crutcher or at the scene.
Mr Trump declined to address the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina, but mentioned the incident in a tweet on Wednesday.
Mr Scott, who police say was armed, was killed by a black officer on Tuesday, sparking violence on the streets of Charlotte .
Protests over both shootings added to the mounting racial tensions across the country over the use of police force.
The US Justice Department has opened an investigation into the Tulsa shooting to determine whether there were any civil rights violations.
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