Outrageous! Cop Able To Bond Out After Arrest For Killing Unarmed Black Man



A now-former University of Cincinnati police officer could spend the rest of his life in prison after being indicted yesterday for shooting an unarmed black man in his car. After the officer’s own body camera proved he was lying about being dragged down the road, he was bundled into jail on a whopping $1 million bond. Incredibly, though, he’s out of jail tonight after posting 10 percent of the bond.
Ray Tensing in court (courtesy WCPO-TV via ABC News)
Ray Tensing in court (courtesy WCPO-TV via ABC News)

On July 19, UC officer Ray Tensing pulled over Samuel Dubose on a street near the campus for not having a front license plate. Tensing later claimed that Dubose refused to show his license and dragged Tensing down the road, forcing Tensing to kill him in self-defense. However, Tensing’s story collapsed when a Hamilton County grand jury viewed the video from Tensing’s body camera. Watch here.

As the video shows, Tensing wasn’t being dragged at all. Rather, when Dubose pulled away, Tensing reached inside Dubose’s car with his left hand. When Dubose ignored commands to stop, Tensing fired a single shot into Dubose, mortally wounding him. When the grand jury saw that video, it indicted Tensing for murder and voluntary manslaughter. It is believed to be the first time that a law enforcement officer in Hamilton County, home to Cincinnati and most of its suburbs, has been charged with murder related to actions in the line of duty.

Hamilton County prosecuting attorney Joe Deters was visibly angry when he described why he felt Tensing’s actions amounted to criminal misbehavior. To his mind, Dubose died as a result of a “senseless, asinine shooting” that should never happen in this country. “This doesn’t happen in the United States, OK?” Deters said. “This might happen in Afghanistan. People don’t get shot for a traffic stop.”

Deters said that he had reviewed at least 100 police shootings since he began his second stint as prosecuting attorney in 2005, and the video of Tensing was the first that led him to conclude that “this is without question a murder.” He believed that Tensing simply lost his temper when Dubose refused to give him his license, and was trying to cover up his “purposeful killing” of Dubose by cooking up the story of being dragged.

Deters described the traffic stop as the worst police work he had ever seen. In his eyes, this was “a chicken crap stop,” and there was no reason for Tensing to even chase Dubose, let alone shoot him, when Dubose pulled away. To Deters’ mind, Tensing’s loss of composure showed that “he never should have been a police officer.” Dubose’s mother, Audrey, later said that she was “thankful that everything was uncovered,” and had been afraid prosecutors would blindly accept Tensing’s word.

Tensing made his first court appearance earlier today. Tensing’s lawyer, Stew Mathews, tried to have his bond set at “something reasonable.” However, Judge Megan Shanahan sided with prosecutors who pointed out that it is normal practice to set bond at $1 million for murder cases. He wasn’t in jail for long, though; after receiving donations from across the country, Tensing was able to post $100,000, or 10 percent of the bond, and walk out earlier this afternoon. That’s too bad. Considering that he shot Dubose in cold blood and then lied about it, Shanahan should have made this an all-cash bond.

At the time, Deters said that there was no evidence UC ignored any red flags in Tensing’s past. However, The Cincinnati Enquirer may have turned up a big one today. Apparently Tensing quit the Ohio Highway Patrol academy after just one day because he couldn’t handle the environment. It’s not quite as bad as the Cleveland police ignoring Tim Loehmann being all but forced to resign from a previous post due to mental instability, but it’s still enough to make the eyes roll.


Tensing was fired just hours after his indictment. More heads might roll soon. Earlier today, the two UC cops who corroborated Tensing’s bogus claim of being dragged were placed on paid administrative leave. Let’s hope these two are fired soon–and get frogmarched the same way Tensing was yesterday.

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.