The sheriff of Tulsa County, Oklahoma said Monday that the FBI has cleared is agency in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a reserve sheriff’s deputy earlier this month.
Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz said in a press conference that the special FBI agent in charge of the state of Oklahoma, Jim Finch, informed him of the investigation’s results earlier that morning in a phone call.
“I also want to tell you that this morning I got a call from Jim Finch. He is the S.A.C., special agent in charge, of the state of Oklahoma,” Glanz said. “He told me the FBI has completed their investigation and they found no wrongdoing at the sheriff’s office. And of course they look at civil rights violations. If you have any questions about that investigation, I would refer you to Mr. Finch or Rich Davis, who’s a local supervisor for the FBI.”
It’s unclear whether Glanz meant that the FBI had also determined there were no civil rights violations committed in the fatal shooting.
Robert Bates, the 73-year-old reserve deputy who says he mistook his handgun for a taser and accidentally shot Eric Harris while attempting to help other deputies take Harris into custody, is facing a second-degree manslaughter charge.
A spokesman for the FBI’s Oklahoma City field office did not immediately return a request for comment from TPM.
This post has been updated.
