Oklahoma Cop Says Police Shoot Blacks 'Less Than We Probably Ought To'
Tulsa Cop We're Shooting Black Folks 'Less Than We Probably Ought To'
A top cop in the Tulsa Police Department brazenly says his boys in blue aren't firing on African-Americans as much as they should ... something he says he's basing on crime data.
Major Travis Yates made the shocking statement during a podcast he was on, discussing George Floyd police brutality protests. Leading up to his controversial statement, he was talking about how black people -- at least in his jurisdiction -- appear to commit more crimes, so their run-ins with law enforcement increase.
Yates' interpretation of those numbers is, "All of the research says we’re shooting African-Americans about 24 percent less than we probably ought to be, based on the crimes being committed."
Yes, he knew this was being recorded and aired.
During the Monday podcast, Yates also claimed studies from Harvard economist Roland Fryer and research from the National Academy of Sciences will back him up.
He went on to say that the protests and riots that have followed the death of George Floyd were not achieving the justice they claim to be after, saying ... "Justice at this point has been done. Well, then it turned into systematic racism, systematic police brutality."
Now, obviously the guy is getting tons of criticism for the remarks -- but he defended himself by saying the notion cops should be shooting black people more than they're already doing is outrageous and not at all what he meant. He claims his words are being taken out of context.
In any case, his words aren't sitting well with some people ... including Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum, who blasted the guy -- "He does not speak for my administration, for the Tulsa Police Department, or the City of Tulsa. His comments are under review by the Chief’s Office. And if he didn’t mean to make the statement in the way it has been received, he owes Tulsans a clarification and an apology."
