Ray Tensing is the first officer in Cincinnati to face murder charges for killing someone in the line of duty.

The video proved to be crucial evidence to the grand jurors who indicted Tensing, and it stunned city officials, prosecutors and the relatives of shooting victim Samuel DuBose.

It also was a reminder that video, whether captured by witnesses on smart phones or by police officers themselves, is transforming the way fatal encounters involving police are investigated and perceived around the nation.

“It’s an absolute tragedy that anyone would behave in this manner,” Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said after publicly releasing the video. “It was senseless. It’s just horrible.

“He purposefully killed him.”

The video shows that Tensing, who stopped DuBose in Mount Auburn on July 19 for driving without a front license plate, speaks to him for a little less than two minutes before the fatal shot is fired.

When Tensing asks DuBose to take off his seat belt, DuBose says “I didn’t even do nothing” and turns his ignition key, starting the car. Tensing then reaches into the car with one hand and, with the other, fires a single shot into DuBose’s head.

DuBose did not appear to be belligerent or aggressive toward the officer before the shot was fired, though his lawyer, Stew Mathews, said Tensing feared he would be run over.

Mathews said charging his client with murder was “absolutely unwarranted.” He said he expected an indictment, but on lesser charges. “Murder is the purposeful killing of another,” Mathews said. “There wasn’t any purpose to kill this fella.”

Tensing, 25, faces 15 years to life in prison if he’s convicted.

Tensing claimed he was “dragged” by DuBose’s vehicle following an altercation during a routine traffic stop, and was therefore forced to open fire, shooting DuBose once in the head.

The conservatives at Legal Insurrection have tried to somehow come to Tensing’s defense with a breakdown of the video.  Certainly, their argument is likely to parallel that of Tensing’s attorneys at trial, i.e., Tensing had a reasonable fear that he would be dragged and since that fear was reasonable, he had a right to shoot in self-defense.  I don’t think that’s what the video reveals, and even the Legal Insurrection folks can’t make that claim stick

What’s worse for Tensing is what happens in the aftermath of the shooting, but still caught on the full video (not in the particular video above).  As The Guardian pointed out, you could see Tensing’s co-officers start to justify the shooting with amounts to be an obvious lie:

A Guardian analysis of the nearly 28 minutes’ worth of Tensing’s body-camera footage released by the prosecutor’s office also shows the aftermath of the shooting and reveals that on three occasions, two other police officers repeat Tensing’s account that he was dragged by DuBose, and one of these officers claims to have witnessed it occurring.

Tensing repeats, multiple times throughout the footage, the claim that he was dragged by DuBose’s vehicle. But at five minutes and 44 seconds into the video, he states: “I think I’m OK. He was just dragging me.”

To which a second officer, who stands out of the frame, replies: “Yeah, I saw that.”

Tensing continues: “I thought I was going to get run over. I was trying to stop him.”

Then, at six minutes and 54 seconds into the footage, while Tensing is seemingly conversing with the same officer, he states: “He was dragging me, man.”

The officer replies, “Yeah.” To which Tensing continues: “I got my hand and my arm caught inside.” The officer then replies, “Yeah, I saw that.”

The identity of this officer is not immediately clear. A copy of the University of Cincinnati police division’s information report on the shooting names university police officer Phillip Kidd as a witness to the entire event.

The information report, written by UC police officer Eric Weibel, states: “Officer Kidd told me that he witnessed the Honda Accord [DuBose’s vehicle] drag Officer Tensing, and that he witnessed Officer Tensing fire a single shot.”

Weibel’s report continues: “Looking at Officer Tensing’s uniform, I could see that the back of his pants and shirt looked as if it had been dragged over a rough surface.”

About 14 minutes into the video, while Tensing is still at the site of the shooting, but has now moved further away from DuBose’s crashed car, he is instructed by a third officer to indicate where the altercation had started.

This officer appears to be a member of the Cincinnati police department and wears a sergeant’s lapel on his arm. He states: “You can talk about anything you want except for what happened [sic]. The only thing that I ask of you is where did it start?”

Tensing replies: “I initiated the traffic stop at Vine and Thill.”

The two officers then clarify the direction Tensing was driving. The sergeant then states: “And, it looks like you got dragged if I’m understanding, looking …”

To which Tensing replies: “Yes.”

Tensing has pled not guilty.  It’s not clear whether the other officers are being investigated for complicity or conspiracy after the fact.  But they should be.