E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
AP
This photo combo of images provided by the Tulsa Police Department via the Tulsa World shows Jacob England, left, and Alvin Watts.
Updated at 3:27 p.m. ET -- Oklahoma prosecutors filed murder and hate-crime charges on Friday against two men arrested in the Good Friday shootings that left three people dead and two wounded in a predominantly black neighborhood in Tulsa.
Jake Carl England, 19, and Alvin Lee Watts, 31, each were charged with three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of shooting with intent to kill and five counts of malicious harassment, according to the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office. The harassment counts allege the victims, all of whom were black, were targeted because of their race.
Police say the men, who were arrested Sunday after a two-day manhunt, appeared to have chosen their victims at random.
Under state law, first-degree murder is punishable by death or life in prison.
"Filing charges is the first step to obtain justice for the victims and their families," Doug Drummond, Tulsa County’s first assistant district attorney, said in a statement. “This is a tragic and senseless crime. Our office is committed to holding those responsible accountable for their actions."
He said prosecutors will not comment on the specific evidence in the case.
Police: 2 suspects confess in Tulsa shooting rampage
Police have said the accused men are white and did not know the victims. One witness said a gunman simply pulled his truck to the side of the street and asked for directions before opening fire.
According to police documents, England spoke with detectives after his arrest and confessed to driving the car while Watts shot two of the victims. England also said he shot three people, and told detectives where the gun used was located, according to documents.
Those killed in the shooting spree were identified as Dannaer Fields, 49, Bobby Clark, 54, and William Terrell Allen, 31. All died from a single gunshot wound to the chest. Deon Tucker, 44, and David Hall, 46, were also shot, but survived.
Shortly before the April 6 shootings, England had commented on his Facebook page that two years had passed since his father, Carl, was killed by a black man, to whom he referred with a racial slur, according to the Tulsa World.
Reuters contributed to this story.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Leave a Comment:
Why are Black's never charged with a "Hate" Crime when they Murder White's?? What make's a Hate crime? What if the shooter doesn't hate the person they shoot, but just doesn't Like them? Are Black people Incapable of Hate?? The way the Law's are set up the Government must think so.
Let me get this straight, a couple of white guys kill some black people and it is a hate crime but a couple of black people kill a couple of white people and it's just murder? What these two white idiots did is no different than what numerous black idiots do yet there's no charges of hate crimes or racism. This country is so screwed up and electing an affirmative action president who sticks his fingers into every race related issue there is only fan the flames of racism has made it worse. A real leader would tell people to calm down but this idiot says things like "the police acted stupidly" and "if I had a son he'd look like Trayvon".
Here you go. Black man convicted of a hate crime.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-D5d10JRk4
That was a hate crime against the elderly. Not whites. Major fail on your part.
Here are some crimes that black men commited aginst white people but were not charged with a hate crime even though most were said to be racially motivated.
http://www.newnation.org/NNN-Black-on-White.html
The whites always have to carry the crutch for the not whites
Did anybody check with Obama? Could be the same thing that afflicted Maj. Nidal Hasan, not a race or hate crime at all. Maybe these guys were simply poor....or there were no community programs for these lost souls.. maybe it was just a game, like 'knockout kings'....[rolls eyes]. Seriously, crime is crime and should be prosecuted as such, without regard to twisted justification or the new dynamic of trying to ratchet it up to a 'hate crime' frenzy. That won't change anything except stoke the fires of race-baiting.
True. Justice is supposed to be blind. Whatever would the blood lady with the scales think of 'color & hate judging'? Let the crime be the crime and the time be the time, just as the scales of justice would have.
ALL RACES COMMIT HATE CRIMES!
NEXT time, Google it and don't ask the question here! Seems the only time that stupid question (WHY DON'T BLACKS GET CHARGED WITH HATE CRIMES) comes up is when a white is charged with a hate crime:
Washington, D.C. November 14, 2011
Of the 6,624 single bias incidents, 47.3 percent were motivated by a racial bias, 20.0 percent were motivated by a religious bias, 19.3 percent were motivated by a sexual orientation bias, and 12.8 percent were motivated by an ethnicity/national origin bias. Bias against a disability accounted for 0.6 percent of single-bias incidents.
There were 4,824 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against persons. Intimidation accounted for 46.2 percent of these crimes, simple assaults for 34.8 percent, and aggravated assaults for 18.4 percent. In addition, seven murders were reported as hate crimes.
There were 2,861 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against property; most of these (81.1 percent) were acts of destruction/damage/vandalism. The remaining 18.9 percent of crimes against property consisted of robbery, burglary, larceny theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, and other offenses.
Of the 6,008 known offenders, 58.6 percent were white and 18.4 percent were black. For 12.0 percent, the race was unknown, and the remaining known offenders were of other races.
The largest percentage (31.4 percent) of hate crime incidents occurred in or near homes. Another 17.0 percent took place on highways, roads, alleys, or streets; 10.9 percent happened at schools or colleges; 5.8 percent in parking lots or garages; and 3.7 percent in churches, synagogues, or temples. The location was considered other or unknown for 14.3 percent of hate crime incidents. The remaining 16.9 percent of hate crime incidents took place at other specified locations or multiple locations.
So 58% of hate crimes are attributed to whites and only 18% to blacks, yet blacks are 17 times more likely to commit a crime against a white person than the other way around. Yeah seems fair to me.
Paul
please state a site that shows blacks are 17 times more likely to commit crimes against whites or did you just pull that out your ass?
Hope they get what they have coming to them.
<a href="" rel="nofollow">Tulsa Storage</a>
Commenting,
Thank you. I'm getting really tired of reading the same old ignorant complaint that only white people are charged with hate crimes. Of course, attempting to educate these types of people only piss them off. Watch the comments and see.
My God what about 58.6% compared to 18.4% don't you get? And I will bet you a dollar to a doughnut that the majority of the 18.4% weren't necessarily against whites. Please make me wrong.
Now, I can deal with an additional charge in a crime going down the hate crime road unless it is murder. What more can you add to murder to make it so that the dead person is either not as much dead or more dead because it was hate. I can understand if it was "attempted" murder gone wrong as then the punishment would be more due to that fact. But in a case of murder? Killed is killed. Dead is dead. Life imprisonment or death penalty. Period. How about we make bank robbery a hate crime. The perp "hates" the fact the bank has money and he/she doesn't.
I do not belive one single solitary "black person" has been convicted of a "hate crime" in the entire country. I would like someone prove me wrong but I do not think you can. Apparently the black race is Immune to "hate crime" charges in America. Its totally one sided when it comes to "hate crimes". Murder is Murder, Hate or Love is Irrelevant
Mike,
Here's the proof:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-D5d10JRk4
mike instead of sitting on your ass and complaining about something you obviously never took the time to read on go on google and look it up cause i dont want to have to teach your dumbass simple facts that you could figure out yourself okay have a nice day.
commentingbecauseican, I notice you don't even cite your source, you just quote it. I'm not impressed. It's not a hate crime until someone (police, D.A., other politicians etc.) call it one. Once again, those are just meaningless numbers. If the perpetrator decides there's no point in leaving valuables laying around, then it's just called a robbery.
I cant beleive some of the comments that i've read. Why people cannot just get along . It's terrible and some need to go look in the mirror.
Im surprised their arent more youngsters whose dads or moms were victims of interracial crime getting retribution. They should take out their family instead of random people. I bet crime will slow down then.
Ive never seen someone charged with a "Greed Crime" Its just called theft. An "Envy Crime" or "Lust Crime" or How bout a "Charity Crime" yea I like that one. I love the "Crime of passion" Yes your honor I killed her cause I Luv her so much !!! Just another way to make the black race feel special and white folks feel better...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-D5d10JRk4
Do you guys now see? When the police and state attorney do their jobs swiftly and fairly, there's no protests, no Al Sharpton, no Jesse Jackson and no disproportionate amount of air time being dedicated to the story.
These two murdering, bigoted bastards deserve to be put summarily to death and it is my hope the legal system does just that. But in this country we all must remember that they are white folks and they all try to stick together no matter what they have done and, especially, since it was "only" against blacks. If they happen to recieve jail time it is the obligation of every black inmate to exact justice, real justice, upon them because the white American system mollycoddles their own. It's time Blacks stood up and stood tall and say , "I'm ready to die if it'll help put an end to the crackers in this society who daily keep us under oppression".
"White American system" ?!?! Its your system too Jean, You should wake up to that FACT !!! The only people opressing you is you. You should wake up to that FACT too Jean..
Black man convicted for a hate crime:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-D5d10JRk4
@
Mike: No, Mike, it's not mmy system. They use the aggregates of people like me to justify their way of doing things. Their so-called "forefathers" are not my forefathers in any sense because as you may know, they considered us only three-fifths of a human; we were only considered chattel.
Jean Valijean,
Contrary to what the white hating media would have you believe, Jake england is a Native American, Alvin watts is white, George zimmerman is hispanic......there seems to be a lot of races that fed up with black culture and it's rampant criminality.
Useing the term "cracker" really makes your point for you.
Do you hate whites?
@Jean You are lumping a whole lot of good people together with some not so good people that have obviously pissed you off. That IS the prejudice and bigotry you are talking about. Who ever "they" were that considered you 3/5 of a human were wrong, and I say this a white person. So are you seriously going to allow your past experiences and prejudices to alienate you from people that want, and have, made some changes in the world, and want to be your friend. I hope not, or you will someday find yourself as lonely as you are angry. Really.
your comment smacks of complete and total racist silliness. what geozim, england and watts did just goes to show there's horrendous criminality in all races.
by the way geozim's mother is hispanic and his father is jewish.
.
Jean im enjoying the news i luv your gang banging. They arrested like 15 young black men for beating on one guy. !5 down brother. Wont be able to get a good job. I luv your culture. All the trashy hip hop gangsta stuff. So while they rott in graffitti their are a bunch of international students coming to our colleges and taking the good jobs while u guys flip burgers. Keep up the good work. We will keep on doing it our way and hopefully not lose to many of our young kids to your horrible gangsta culture.
Good Job Butch. You found a needle in a hay stack. But you did find one. Props Can you find another?
mike get of your lazy ass and find the information yourself my god stop being such a useless piece of @!$%# and find your own answers! Also is that a picture of Dave Chapelle when he did the black white supremacist thing that was funny as hell.
@
Cork: You whites seem to be enjoying so much of the "gangsta stuff" it has now made the hip hop culture and "gang banging" popular and lucrative. When the big upheaval begins you will be one of the first whites to get it. I'll enjoy that.
Be careful what you wish for jean you just might get it. I hope you understand if a "big upheaval" happens it isn't going to be the whites that are getting it. Even if it is just whites vs blacks you are outnumbered 7 to 1. If you add in the mexicans, since they hate you even more than whites do, it gets even bleaker. You better just pray that we don't decide to wipe you off the planet.
Paul
wow you lowered yourself to jeans level to prove what exzactly? that you think black people should be gratefully they haven't been whipped out by whites and hispanics? man you didn't even try to hide the racism there.
These two are definitely Moron's but if you ask them what Political Party they belong to they would say "Duh, Tea Party!"
Jean u dont have to be necessarily white to say what im saying. Thats another miscalculation u are making. U think its going to be all the minorities against the whites. Jean its going to be the blacks against everybody else. I have lived a pretty full life already buddy. But i will have my little camera on to make sure the gang bangers ruin their young lives.
i feel sorry for all the kids who are being ruined by gangsta stuff. But as for the upheaval well keep in mind people of all colors get along on a daily basis and their are millions of interactions with no trouble. But u have bad leaders who will lead u to ruin if u listen to them
Since when are native americans white? Come on media, I know you seem to revel in anything that involves a hate crime but please be accurate.......One is white the other is native american.
the 2 guys should be set free - they did society a huge favor
scott
oh well then geuss i'll go shoot and kill you then since you obviously contribute nothing to society but hate and ignorance and do society a favor and not have to help your sorry ass when your old and alone. seriously dude go die in a ditch somewhere that no one can find the corpse that way no one will have to waste their time dealing with your funeral that no one will attend.
I've said many times that "hate crimes" shouldn't exist. That is the government telling you what to think. Apparently if you kill someone of the same race, it's not a hate crime, but regular murder. Why should the same race murderer get a lighter sentence than a "hate" murderer? You can hate someone all you want, but when you kill them you get charged with murder. There shouldn't be a distinction between a "hate" murder and any other type of first-degree murder.
and MSNBC contiues to fan the flames of race war... pitiful
@ libtarded # 51...
and fox news has brought their fans to the fire of racism also. they repeatedly throw up the issue of the two black panthers that were standing outside the voting booth with batons even though they didn't assault a single person. they give publicity to the bounty that the panthers put out on geozim. they're falsely claiming that sharpton is stirring racism by answering the request of trayvon's parents to give them assistance in finding the truth of the son's death.
Why no outrage over the black man that killed this guys father and didn't do any time? I guess it's only a crime if a white kills a black. I'm not saying what these two did is acceptable, they should both be locked up for life or put to death. Just wondering why the nation is so upset about poor little trayvons death but we didn't hear not a word about this guys father being murdered.
@ paul 850902 # 52...
it appears authorities were trying to cover up details of trayvon's death by at first refusing to give his parents the information about the case they were entitled to have access to.
trayvon's family continued to hammer the authorities and when that didn't work they enlisted the services of al sharpton and jesse jackson who organized protests. also there was a young white college graduate by the name of kevin cunningham that gathered 2.2 million signatures for a petition on the internet to bring charges against geozim.
that's why the nation is upset over "poor little trayvon's death". there appears to be evidence of cover up at worst, shoddy police work at best.
rather than shooting and killing innocent men and a woman if england thought justice was not done he should have stirred up outrage as did trayvon's parents.
by the way a young black youth was shot dead while hiding on the porch of white residents. he was trying to avoid police who had just raided an under age drinking party. no one protested or demanded an arrest because the homeowner may have mistaken him for a burglar.
despite what you and many others may think every time someone outside the race kills an african american it does not stir outrage and protests.