Daniel Holtzclaw sobbed and rocked back and forth in the courtroom Thursday as the former Oklahoma City police officer was found guilty on 18 counts of various forms of sexual assault, including four first-degree rape convictions.
Holtzclaw, a half-white, half-Japanese police officer, faced 36 counts of sexual assault against 13 black women he reportedly encountered on his beat in a minority,
low-income neighborhood, according to The Associated Press. The case was catapulted into the national spotlight after it drew the attention of the Black Lives Matter movement, which
highlighted it on social media, The Atlantic reported.
Holtzclaw reportedly raped and sexually assaulted some of the women during traffic stops.
"Not only is this individual stopping women who fit a profile of members of our society who are confronted rightly or wrongly by police officers all the time," The Atlantic quoted Oklahoma County prosecutor Gayland Gieger. "He identifies a vulnerable society that without exception except one have an attitude for 'What good is it gonna do? He’s a police officer. Who’s going to believe me?'"
Surprise, and pleasure, in the verdict flooded the Internet.
"A lot of us were approaching the verdict with a great deal of skepticism,"
wrote Shaun King on the New York Daily News website. "The only three African-American jurors were struck from the jury during the selection process and Holtzclaw, who is white, ended up receiving an all-white jury. After four very long days of deliberation, when it was announced by local reporters that a verdict was in, my heart sank."
King cited other cases — like that of NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo who many expected to be tried for killing Eric Garner — that didn't make it to trial or failed to get a conviction.
"In America, it's an extremely rare occurrence for an all-white jury to convict a white man, particularly a white police officer, of crimes against black women," King wrote. "I've never been more glad to be so wrong in my life."
The Holtzclaw jury recommended a 236-year sentence, according to the AP.
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