America's Neo-Nazi Policing - Pt 21: Man Who Called Cops in Ohio Walmart Shooting of Man With Toy Gun Changes His Story After Viewing Video

Ronald Ritchie called 911 and claimed a man, John Crawford, was pointing an assault rifle at people inside Walmart. Ritchie was the only shopper who called 911.  The police responded to the call and shot Crawford on site, killing him as his children stood by.  The assault rifle turned out to be merely a toy gun Crawford was preparing to purchase. Subsequently, upon upon viewing the Walmart surveillance video, Ritchie changed his story and said that Crawford was not pointing the rifle at people. Was Ritchie deliberately trying to instigate a "murder by cop" of a black man, or did he simply change his story to coincide with the Walmart surveillance video?

Michael Wright, John Crawford's attorney, says the Walmart surveillance video shows
Crawford leaning on the toy gun and talking on the phone when police showed up and
shot him on sight.  The Ohion attorney general refuses to release the video. (Screen
shot from YouTube video)

By Travis Gettys
Some questions have emerged about the witness account that led to the fatal shooting of a man carrying a toy gun inside a Walmart store in Ohio.

Ronald Ritchie, another shopper, called 911 from the Beavercreek retailer Aug. 5 to report a black man “walking around with a gun in the store” – placing other customers under direct threat.

In a recording of the call made to dispatchers, Ritchie claimed the man was pointing the toy gun – which he believed was an AR-15 rifle – at other shoppers, and he repeated those claims to news media after police gunned down 22-year-old John Crawford III.

“He was pointing at people – children walking by,” Ritchie claimed to reporters.

But the 24-year-old — who was the only shopper who called 911 — offered another account last week in an interview with the Guardian.

“At no point did he shoulder the rifle and point it at somebody,” he said, although he continued to insist Crawford was “waving it around.”

An attorney for Crawford’s family strongly denies that claim, saying surveillance video recorded prior to the shooting directly contradicts the accounts offered by police and Ritchie.

Attorney Michael Wright, who watched a five-minute excerpt of the video with Crawford’s father, has urged Ohio’s attorney general to publicly release the video and other evidence.

Attorney General Mike DeWine has so far refused, saying it would be “playing with dynamite” to do so prior to a grand jury hearing scheduled for Sept. 22.

However, Ritchie claims he was shown the video by officials in the attorney general’s bureau of criminal investigation – and Wright said he intends to file a complaint with DeWine.

“That is very improper,” Wright said, arguing that Ritchie’s statement should be based only on his own recollections.

“(DeWine) said he was concerned that the release of the video would adversely color the perception of the witnesses, thereby making their testimony less accurate,” Wright said.

A spokesman for DeWine declined to confirm whether Ritchie had seen the video, and he declined to comment whether the attorney general told Wright the video could negatively impact witness accuracy.

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America's Neo-Nazi Policing

Part 1          Part 2         Part 3          Part 4          Part 5

Part 6          Part 7         Part 8          Part 9          Part 10

Part 11        Part 12       Part 13        Part 14        Part 15

Part 16        Part 17       Part 18        Part 19        Part 20

Part 21        Part 22       Part 23        Part 24