Tulsa Deputy Pleads Not Guilty Before Leaving for Bahamas Vacation
In another edition of our ongoing series of “Some are more equal than others”…
Robert Bates, the Oklahoma reserve sheriff’s deputy who says he mistook his gun for his Taser when he shot and killed a man earlier this month, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to second-degree manslaughter.
A judge set a hearing for July 2. The judge allowed Bates to take a previously planned vacation to the Bahamas. Bates did not address reporters as he entered and left court.
Bates, a 73-year-old retired insurance executive who volunteered with the sheriff’s department in Tulsa, was providing backup during a sting on April 2. He shot and killed Eric Harris, who had allegedly tried to sell a gun to an undercover officer and then bolted.
Shoot a black man in the back and then head off to the Bahamas to sip Coronas and do some quality Marlin fishing on your yacht.
It’s the American Dream…