State lawmakers pushed back Monday against recent criticism over their support of the Terence Crutcher Foundation.
Sen. Kevin Matthews said since Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton questioned his citation to recognize Crutcher’s life and foundation, he’s received several calls and emails saying he shouldn’t support a man who was a criminal and a drug user.
"As though that warranted not only the death sentence he received, but that we should not … help others through a foundation bearing his name," Matthews said.
Rep. Regina Goodwin also signed the citation.
"We don’t need permission in terms of what we think of the Crutcher family and Terence Crutcher. We will have our own definition of who Terence Crutcher is and what this foundation represents," Goodwin said.
Matthews, Goodwin and other supporters spoke of Crutcher at a news conference Monday as an artist and a spiritual man who was turning a corner in his life.
Matthews' citation resurfaced last week when Betty Shelby’s case file in Crutcher’s death was expunged. Shelby was sworn in as a Rogers County reserve deputy in August.
Rev. Ray Owens said critics are trying to move them away from the mission of the foundation.
"We shall not be moved until police reform is a reality right here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We shall not be moved," Owens said. "We shall not be moved until an education here in north Tulsa measures up to an education there in south Tulsa. We shall not be moved. We shall not be moved until the value of the life of a black man is treated equally as the value of the life of a white man, a brown man. We shall not be moved."
Rev. Rodney Goss said he’s been where Crutcher was, so if Crutcher is a villain, so is he.
"The only difference and distinction between myself and Terence is that he didn’t get the opportunity to finish his transformation," Goss said.
The Terence Crutcher Foundation was set up by Crutcher's parents, Joey and Leanna, and his sister, Tiffany. Its initiatives include outreach to disenfranchised young black men, scholarships for students interested in music and the arts, and community events to promote unity.
