Tulsa shooting suspects charged with murder, hate crimes

Reuters – 13 mins ago

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Prosecutors brought murder and hate-crime charges on Friday against two white men arrested in the shootings of four black men and a black woman, three of them fatally, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a week ago.

Black lawmakers in Oklahoma and civil rights leaders, including Reverend Jesse Jackson, have pressed authorities to bring the hate-crime charges against Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 33, to acknowledge their racial motive for gunning down unsuspecting victims before dawn on April 6.

Shortly before the killings, England had lamented on his Facebook page that two years had passed since his father was killed by a black man, to whom he referred with a racial slur.

Police have described the shootings as random because the pair of self-employed laborers did not know any of their victims. One witness said the gunman simply pulled his pickup truck to the side of the street and asked for directions before opening fire.

The suspects were arrested on Sunday after multiple anonymous telephone tips named them as the killers.

Conviction on murder charges in Oklahoma could result in a death sentence, so the misdemeanor hate-crime charge will do nothing to enhance the penalty, but it does carry a symbolic value, civil rights leaders have said.

Jackson said on CNN there was "fear" in Tulsa's black community, and that would be assuaged somewhat by bringing the hate-crime charges.

Three men and a woman were shot within a mile of each other in north Tulsa. The body of a fifth victim was discovered outside a nearby funeral home in the predominantly black part of the city.

England and Watts have confessed, a police spokesman told the New York Times. England admitted to police he shot three of the victims, and Watts shot two others, the report said.

The fatally shot victims were identified as Dannaer Fields, Bobby Clark, and William Allen, who were all shot in the chest.

The two suspects were also charged with shooting with intent to kill Deon Tucker, who was wounded in the shoulder, and David Hall, who was wounded in the stomach.

Both England and Watts were described in the charging document as white, though England has been described as at least part Native American.

The Tulsa killings followed the shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, a case that has captured national attention largely because of race.

Martin, 17, was black, and the shooter, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, is white and Hispanic. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder.

(Reporting By Andrew Stern; Editing by Philip Barbara)

  1. This combo made from file photos shows Trayvon Martin, left, and George Zimmerman. The fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager _ Martin _ by a neighborhood watch volunteer _ Zimmerman _ led to nationwide protests calling for the shooter's arrest. Martin's parents, civil rights leaders and other people are portraying the case as racially charged, saying the Zimmerman would have been arrested had he been black and the victim white. Zimmerman told police he acted in self-defense after Martin pursued and attacked him. (AP Photo)

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