The Sam Dubose Video Has Been Released

Be forewarned: There's some pretty grisly stuff ahead. For the past several days, activists and observers have been keeping the name "Sam Dubose" squarely in the national spotlight. Dubose, 43, was slain during a traffic stop on July 19 by University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing. There's been one big thing on everyone's mind since: What would Tensing's body camera footage reveal about the shooting? Well, now we've got our answer. The Sam Dubose shooting video was released today, and it's as horrifying as it could possibly be.

You could sort of see this coming, by virtue of how city officials were talking about the video before it was released. As Raw Story details, Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell has spoken out on the footage in a rather foreboding way, referring to it as "not good," and stating that "we’re just trying to do our best to be prepared for whatever might come out of it.”

That level of candor on its own was enough to raise suspicion. You generally don't expect to see a law enforcement official imply wrongdoing on behalf of a fellow officer, unless the situation makes it truly impossible to avoid. Moreover, reports that the University of Cincinnati canceled classes in advance of the video's release furthered the perception that the video would cause a big public reaction. And now, having seen it, there's no mystery why. Again, you may not want to watch the video — it shows Dubose being fatally shot in the head.

An entirely routine-seeming, tension-free traffic stop suddenly turns into a horror when Tensing asks Dubose to take off his seat belt. Dubose protests that he didn't do anything, and in a flash, Tensing pulls out his gun and shoots Dubose dead. Simply put, whatever legal repercussions Tensing will ultimately face, what's shown on the video resembles little more than a random execution. Tensing has been indicted for murder by a grand jury.