{{short description|2015 manslaughter in Tulsa, Oklahoma}} {{distinguish|Suicide of Eric Harris}} {{pp-pc1}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2015}} {{Infobox civilian attack | title = Killing of Eric Harris | image = Eric Harris getting chased in bodycam footage.png | caption = Bodycam footage showing Eric Harris running from the police, prior to getting shot. | date = {{start date and age|2015|04|02}} | time = {{circa}} 11:00 a.m. | timezone = CDT; UTC-05:00 | location = Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States | victim = Eric Courtney Harris, aged 43 | perp = Robert Charles Bates | convicted = | verdict = Guilty | convictions = Second-degree manslaughter {{Infobox event | title = | child = yes | sentence = 4 years imprisonment (paroled after {{frac|1|1|2}} years) }} }}
On April 2, 2015, 43-year-old African-American Eric Courtney Harris was fatally shot during an undercover sting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as Harris ran from authorities unarmed.<ref name="nyti_Lawy">{{Cite web| title = Lawyers Square Off in Tulsa as Reserve Deputy Surrenders in Unarmed Man's Death |last=Pérez-Peña |first=Richard |work=The New York Times |date=April 14, 2015 |access-date=2015-05-03 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/us/tulsa-reserve-sheriffs-deputy-surrenders-in-shooting-of-eric-harris.html}}</ref><ref name="nyma_Vide">{{Cite web| title = Video: 'F*ck Your Breath', Says Cop to Man Who Has Just Been Fatally Shot|author1=Bankoff, Caroline |author2=Fuller, Jaime |name-list-style=amp | work = New York| date = 2015-04-13| access-date = 2015-05-03| url = https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2015/04/fck-your-breath-says-cop-to-man-who-was-shot.html }}</ref><ref name="esqu_YouC">{{Cite web| title = You Can't Tell The Cops From The Cops Any More| author = Pierce, Charles P.| work = Esquire| date = 2015-04-13| access-date = 2015-05-03| url = https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a34321/this-is-all-very-strange-police-work/ }}</ref> While Harris was being subdued, Tulsa County Reserve Deputy Robert Charles Bates, 73, claims he confused his personal weapon, a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver, for a Model X26 Taser.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/04/14/us/taser-gun-confusion/index.html|title=How easy is it to confuse a gun for a Taser?|first=Holly |last=Yan|date=April 14, 2015|website=CNN|accessdate=April 12, 2021}}</ref> Bates shot Harris in the back when he was on the ground. According to the Tulsa County Sheriff's office, he immediately said afterwards, "Oh, I shot him! I'm sorry."<ref name="tulsaworld1">{{cite web|url=https://www.tulsaworld.com/homepage1/sources-supervisors-told-to-falsify-reserve-deputy-s-training-records/article_a6330f10-a9fb-51e3-ab5e-4d97b03c6c04.html |first1=Dylan |last1=Goforth |first2=Ziva |last2=Branstetter |date=April 16, 2015 |title=Sources: Supervisors told to falsify reserve deputy's training records; department announces internal review |newspaper=Tulsa World |access-date=2015-05-02}}</ref> Bates was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter (unintentional homicide resulting from criminal negligence) and sentenced to four years in prison, and was released after serving 18 months.
==Aftermath== It was later determined that Harris did not have a gun when he was tackled and shot. A sunglasses-camera video<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/12/us/tulsa-police-shooting-video/index.html |title=Video released of deadly shooting in Tulsa after police chase |first1=Eliott C. |last1=Mclaughlin |first2=Ben |last2=Brumfield |work=CNN |date=April 12, 2015 |access-date=April 9, 2022 }}</ref> shows his arms flailing as he runs. Bates was later charged with second-degree manslaughter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tulsaworld.com/news/crimewatch/reserve-deputy-charged-with-manslaughter-turns-himself-in-at-tulsa/article_883e0747-46e9-595d-9c4f-e1cb4fdabbf4.html |title=Reserve deputy charged with manslaughter turns himself in at Tulsa Jail |newspaper=Tulsa World |date=April 14, 2015 |access-date=2015-05-02}}</ref>
Harris family attorney Donald Smolen said the sunglasses video shows Deputy Bates with a yellow Taser strapped to his chest and a .357 revolver in his right hand as he stands over Harris. "There is absolutely no way, if Mr. Bates had been trained at all, which I believe will be reflected ultimately through the lack of records to substantiate his training, that an officer who was trained would [ever] get these two weapons confused," Smolen said.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kgou.org/oklahoma-news/2015-04-14/tulsa-reserve-sheriffs-deputy-turns-himself-in-to-face-manslaughter-charges |title=Tulsa Reserve Sheriff's Deputy Turns Himself In To Face Manslaughter Charges |work=KGOU.org |agency=Associated Press |first=Brian |last=Hardzinski |date=2015-04-14 |access-date=2015-05-02}}</ref>
In the video, Harris can be heard saying, "I'm losing my breath," to which 38-year-old Deputy Joseph Byars replies, "Fuck your breath." 24-year-old Deputy Michael Huckeby is also shown in the video kneeling on Harris' head as the dying Harris is told, "You shouldn't have ran," and "Shut the fuck up." A third deputy restraining Harris was not identified.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/sheriff-s-office-confirms-names-of-deputies-in-video-says/article_5e492153-5a2a-55c4-9fee-afc92dbd3a4d.html |date=April 15, 2015 |title=Sheriff's Office confirms names of deputies in video, says they didn't hear gunshot |first2=Dylan |last2=Goforth |first1=Ziva |last1=Branstetter |newspaper=Tulsa World |access-date=2015-05-02}}</ref>
Tulsa Police Sgt. Jim Clark, hired as an "expert witness" for the sheriff's department, said at a news conference on April 10, 2015, that Bates "was a true victim of slips and capture", and that it was typical for law enforcement officers to experience diminished hearing, tunnel vision, or go into "autopilot", where a person's behavior "slips" off the path of his intention because it is "captured" by a stronger response and sent in a different direction. "Bates didn't commit a crime," Clark said, and no policy violations occurred.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 11, 2015 |first=Corey |last=Jones |url=https://tulsaworld.com/news/crimewatch/video-of-fatal-shooting-by-reserve-deputy-shown-at-sheriff/article_9d77cce0-75e6-5ddf-a782-cf048ad4064b.html |title=Video of fatal shooting by reserve deputy shown at Sheriff's Office press conference |newspaper=Tulsa World |access-date=2015-05-02}}</ref>
Smolen told the ''Tulsa World'' that Clark's ruling was "premature and ill-advised", challenging a report that Harris was "uncooperative and combative" as firefighters attempted to administer aid, and Harris could hardly be combative since he was struggling with labored breathing and his hands were cuffed. "It's most likely the word 'combative' is being used because that's what they're being told by the Sheriff's Office," Smolen told the World. "The other alternative is their use of the word combative is more a description of Mr. Harris struggling to get air and kind of writhing in pain from the gunshot wound."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/13/oklahoma-shooting-video/25702233/ |first1=John |last1=Bacon |first2=William M. |last2=Welch |title=Tulsa reserve deputy charged with manslaughter |work=USA Today |date=2015-04-13 |access-date=2015-05-02}}</ref>
===Bates' qualification scandal=== The Tulsa Police Department immediately sought to clarify their relationships with both Bates and Clark. "Robert Bates has no current affiliation with the Tulsa Police Department and has not had any in 50 years," TPD said in a press release. "Additionally, Mr. Jim Clark, a consultant for the Tulsa County Sheriff, does not represent the Tulsa Police Department nor has the Tulsa Police Department conducted an assessment of this incident."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tulsaworld.com/newshomepage2/attorney-questions-official-report-in-fatal-shooting-by-tulsa-county/article_86292aa0-3466-5f83-ac43-78b4a87a3fb4.html |date=April 13, 2015 |first=Corey |last=Jones |title=Attorney questions official report in fatal shooting by Tulsa County reserve deputy |newspaper=Tulsa World |access-date=2015-05-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/tpd-responds-rumors-deputy-involved-shooting/nksCS/ |first=April |last=Hill |title=TPD responds to rumors on deputy involved in shooting |publisher=Krmg.com |date=2015-04-13 |access-date=2015-05-02}}</ref> Later that week, the ''Tulsa World'' reported that supervisors at the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office had been ordered to falsify Deputy Bates' training records.<ref name="tulsaworld1"/>
Sheriff's spokesperson Shannon Clark later said the documents wouldn't matter because Bates, who donated $2,500 to and chaired Sheriff Stanley Glanz's re-election campaign, had been granted special exceptions.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 17, 2015 |first=Dylan |last=Goforth |url=https://tulsaworld.com/news/crimewatch/sheriff-s-spokesman-parts-of-reserve-deputy-s-training-requirements/article_f64077e4-13e8-57b0-9a1c-a88b72fb0226.html |title=Sheriff's spokesman: Parts of reserve deputy's training requirements might have been waived |newspaper=Tulsa World |access-date=2015-05-02}}</ref>
In 2008, Bates had also donated substantial new equipment to the sheriff's department, including new Dodge Chargers and a Crown Victoria, as well as a computer for one car, and a $5,000 "forensic camera" and lenses. In 2010, Bates donated a used 2007 Ford F-150 and a new 2010 Chevy Tahoe, plus a Motorola hand-held radio "...to be used by the drug unit for surveillance work," according to department records. The next year he gave the department a used 1997 Toyota Avalon intended for "...use as an undercover car by the drug task force."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/tulsa-county-reserve-deputy-bought-cars-equipment-for-undercover-unit/article_e33ab05d-dcb1-588f-9096-89e051104409.html |title=Tulsa County reserve deputy bought cars, equipment for undercover unit |newspaper=Tulsa World |first=Ziva |last=Branstetter |date=April 14, 2015 |access-date=April 20, 2021}}</ref>
Glanz said during an interview with a radio station that the sheriff's deputy who certified Bates had moved on to work for the Secret Service,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scrippsmedia.com/kfaq/news/Serious-Questions-Raised-in-TaserGun-Mixup-Fatal-Shooting-299968631.html |title=Serious Questions Raised in Taser/Gun Mixup Fatal Shooting - www.1170kfaq.com |publisher=Scrippsmedia.com |date=April 15, 2015 |access-date=May 2, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419012815/http://www.scrippsmedia.com/kfaq/news/Serious-Questions-Raised-in-TaserGun-Mixup-Fatal-Shooting-299968631.html |first=Tami |last=Marler |archive-date=April 19, 2015 }}</ref> while the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office denied providing Bates with the training he claimed.<ref>{{cite news |first=Megan |last=Cassidy |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2015/04/16/bates-deputy-mcso-training-shooter/25886465/ |title=MCSO: We didn't train Tulsa deputy accused in murder |work=The Arizona Republic |date=2015-04-16 |access-date=2015-05-02}}</ref>
Glanz resigned, effective November 1, 2015, as a result of the scandal around Bates' lack of legitimate qualification. An election to replace him was held on March 1, 2016.<ref>{{cite news |first=Corey |last=Jones |url=https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/special-primary-election-set-march-1-after-sheriff-stanley-glanz-submits-resignation-letter/article_56e5e1c2-1832-533e-811b-a95eb964fc3b.html |title=Special primary election set March 1 after Sheriff Stanley Glanz submits resignation letter{{snd}} Glanz' letter of resignation says he will officially leave as sheriff on November 1 |newspaper=Tulsa World |date=October 3, 2015 |access-date=April 20, 2021}} (Updated February 19, 2019.)</ref> In 2016, he pleaded guilty for failing to release information that proved the department knew Bates to be unqualified. Glanz was sentenced to one year in jail, but his sentence was suspended.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/drinking-while-on-parole-ex-reserve-deputy-robert-bates-seen-at-bar-after-release-from/article_bb8592f7-0e36-540f-a3e8-4cb078010a41.html|title=Drinking while on parole? Ex-reserve deputy Robert Bates seen at bar after release from prison for Eric Harris slaying|date=May 10, 2018|first=Justin |last=Juozapavicius|newspaper=Tulsa World|accessdate=April 12, 2021}}</ref>
==Legal proceedings== On April 14, 2015, Bates was charged with second-degree manslaughter (unintentional homicide resulting from criminal negligence). He turned himself in at the Tulsa County Jail, where he was released on the same day, having posted $25,000 bail. The charge of second-degree manslaughter carried a maximum of four years in prison.<ref>{{cite news |last=Reed |first=Allen |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/14/lawyer-tulsa-reserve-depu_n_7065652.html |url-status=dead |title=Tulsa Reserve Deputy Released On Bail After Turning Himself In |work=The Huffington Post |date=April 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307090438/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/14/lawyer-tulsa-reserve-depu_n_7065652.html |archive-date=March 7, 2016 }}</ref> Bates pleaded not guilty on April 21, 2015. On April 28, 2016, Bates was found guilty.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ellis |first1=Ralph |last2=Lett |first2=Sara |title=Ex-Oklahoma deputy Robert Bates guilty of killing unarmed suspect |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/27/us/tulsa-deputy-manslaughter-trial/ |access-date=28 April 2016 |work=CNN |date=28 April 2016}}</ref> Based on the jury's recommendation, he was sentenced to four years in prison.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pickard |first1=Arianna |last2=Jones |first2=Corey |date=June 1, 2016 |title=Former Reserve Deputy Robert Bates sentenced to four years in prison for death of Eric Harris |url=https://tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/former-reserve-deputy-robert-bates-sentenced-to-four-years-in/article_ec042b6d-11d2-5ee1-95d9-cf9e5ee78aba.html |newspaper=Tulsa World|access-date=September 23, 2016}}</ref> Bates was released from prison on October 19, 2017, after serving 37% of his sentence, including jail time.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/crimewatch/robert-bates-released-from-prison-after-serving-years-of-a/article_a6ea16be-d5eb-5b7b-9be2-dd10265cac5b.html |title=Robert Bates released from prison after serving 1½ years of a four-year sentence for killing Eric Harris |last=Jones |first=Corey |newspaper=Tulsa World |date=October 20, 2017}}</ref>
In January 2018, Bates was photographed by a customer who was familiar with him, as he had been apparently drinking wine at a bar in contravention of the conditions of his parole from prison. His bar receipt was also photographed.<ref name="auto"/>
In March 2018, Tulsa County agreed to pay the family of Eric Harris $6 million as a final settlement of a federal lawsuit.<ref>{{Cite news |work=Associated Press |url=https://apnews.com/article/254a0f058c1e46fea0018671778b45d8 |title=Tulsa County paying $6M to estate of slain black man|date=March 9, 2018 |accessdate=April 12, 2021}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Black Lives Matter}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Eric}} Category:African-American history in Tulsa, Oklahoma Category:African-American-related controversies Category:2015 in Oklahoma Category:Filmed killings by law enforcement Category:Deaths by person in Oklahoma Category:Black Lives Matter Category:Police brutality in the United States Category:April 2015 crimes in the United States Category:April 2015 in the United States