Former police officer acquitted in shooting unarmed man uninvited to law enforcement conference
BATON ROUGE- An Oklahoma Police officer will no longer be speaking at law enforcement conference in Baton Rouge after being acquitted in shooting an unarmed man.
The Southeastern Homicide Investigators Association released a statement Sunday rescinding their invitation to Rogers County Sheriff's Deputy Betty Shelby.
"After careful consideration of all perspectives of national, state and local leaders, we have rescinded the offer to have Betty Shelby speak at the 2018 Southeastern Homicide Investigators Association Conference in Baton Rouge this week," the statement read.
Shelby was originally asked to speak at the conference about, "Surviving the Aftermath of a Critical Incident," but the Association said some just don't understand.
"We realize now there are people around the country who do not understand why we would present this case or how our investigators could learn and benefit from hearing the case presentation which led to her arrest, prosecution, and ultimate acquittal," written in the statement.
The decision to uninvite Shelby comes after The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund sent a letter Friday to the Association expressing concerns about Shelby speaking.
Once Shelby's invitation was rescinded the NAACP released a statement thanking the Baton Rouge.
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"We’d like to Thank The Citizens of Baton Rouge, Various Leaders, Chief Murphy Paul, and DA Hillar Moore for standing firm and speaking out!"
Betty Shelby was acquitted of first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Terence Crutcher. A video shows her shooting at Crutcher while his hands were up. Shelby argued that she thought Critcher was reaching in his car. Soon after she resigned from the Tulsa Police Department.