Who was Samuel DuBose?

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Samuel "Sam" Vincent DuBose (March 12, 1972 – July 19, 2015), a 43-year-old black man, was a rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and motorcycle enthusiast. He was the founder of a motorcycle club, Ruthless Riders. He attended high school in Cincinnati and was the father of 13 children. 

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What happened to him?

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On July 19, 2015, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Samuel DuBose, an unarmed man, was fatally shot by Ray Tensing, a University of Cincinnati police officer, during a traffic stop for a missing front license plate and a suspended driver's license. Tensing fired after DuBose started his car. Tensing stated that DuBose had begun to drive off and that he was being dragged because his arm was caught in the car. Prosecutors alleged that footage from Tensing's bodycam showed that he was not dragged, and a grand jury indicted him on charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter. He was then fired from the police department. He was released on bond before trial. A November 2016 trial ended in mistrial after the jury became deadlocked (a judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation). A retrial begun in May 2017 also ended in a hung jury. The charges against Tensing were later dismissed with prejudice. 

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At 6:30 p.m., on Rice Street near Thill Street in the Mount Auburn district, Raymond Tensing was patrolling off-campus when he stopped DuBose for failure to display a front license plate. The incident was recorded on Tensing's bodycam, which he activated before the traffic stop. Seen in the bodycam video, Tensing repeatedly requests a driver's license and DuBose replies that he has a driver's license, then stating that he does not have it with him. Tensing asks, "Are you suspended?" Tensing starts to open the driver's door and orders DuBose to remove his seat belt. DuBose pulls the door closed, starts the engine, and puts the car in drive. Within the next few seconds, Tensing reaches into the car with his left hand, yells "Stop! Stop!", draws his pistol with his right hand, and fires once striking DuBose. Sources differed as to whether the car was moving before the shot was fired. According to the Kroll Report, "it is difficult to determine with precision how much, if at all, the car moved [prior to the gunshot], but whatever movement may have occurred appears to have been minimal." After firing, Tensing falls away from the vehicle which accelerates as he and two other officers run after it. After travelling about 400 feet (120 m), the vehicle collided into a telephone pole and came to a stop. After the officers reach the car, the video shows DuBose inside with a gunshot wound to his head. The county coroner's preliminary autopsy results, released on July 31, confirmed that as the cause of death. In bodycam footage, Tensing repeatedly tells other officers that he was dragged when his arm became caught in the car, possibly in the steering wheel. In the police report that he filed after the incident, he stated that he was dragged, forcing him to fire his weapon. Through lawyers, he released a public statement that he was afraid that he would be run over. On July 29, authorities released Tensing's bodycam video, which, according to prosecutors, shows that Tensing was not dragged. 

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What happened with his case?

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On July 29, 2015, Tensing was indicted on charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter. The murder charge carries a penalty of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 15 years. As a result of the indictment, he was fired from the UCPD. At his July 30 arraignment, he pleaded not guilty to the charges, and he was released on $1 million bond later that day. A trial began on October 31, 2016; on November 12, the judge declared a mistrial after the jury became deadlocked. Ten days later the prosecution announced that they intended to retry Tensing, requesting a change of venue due to the amount of publicity surrounding the case in the Cincinnati area. A judge denied the change of venue, while extending a gag order in the case. A retrial was slated to begin on May 25, 2017. The presiding judge ruled that prosecutors could not present the T-shirt Tensing was wearing at the time of the shooting to the jury. The shirt depicted a Confederate flag, and the judge agreed with Tensing's defense that allowing the shirt as evidence would be prejudicial. On June 23, 2017, the second trial also ended in mistrial due to a deadlocked jury. On July 18, 2017, prosecuting attorney Joseph Deters said he was dropping the case against Tensing, as two previous juries could not reach a unanimous agreement on murder and voluntary manslaughter charges. 

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Stew Mathews, Tensing's attorney, said that Tensing was being dragged by the car, and that the officer fired in self-defense while fearing for his life. Mathews said that video from Lindenschmidt's bodycam helped substantiate that claim. However, video forensics expert and FBI instructor Grant Fredericks disagreed with these claims—testifying the video showed Tensing had never been dragged, and in fact pulled and aimed his gun at Dubose's head before the vehicle moved. Fredericks further testified he believed the vehicle's later acceleration occurred after the shooting, as a result of a "post-mortem reflex." In January 2016, following two days of mediation with civil rights attorney Al Gerhardstein, the University of Cincinnati agreed to pay $4.85 million to the DuBose family. In addition to financial compensation, the settlement included free undergraduate education for DuBose's children, the creation of a memorial in his name, an apology from the school's president, and engagement by the family in police reform at the university. It also protected all potential defendants from any future civil litigation in DuBose's death. On March 23, 2018, Ray Tensing was awarded nearly $350,000 in compensation for unfair dismissal from his former employer. 

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What can we do?

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1. Contact Joe Deters demanding Ray Tensing be prosecuted.

(513) 946-3000 

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2. Contact Cincinatti Mayor John Cranley.

513-352-3250, mayor.cranley@cincinnati-oh.gov 

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3. Sign the petition demanding justice for Samuel DuBose

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