Sheriff Oddie Shoupe is a name you should know. He is a "law" enforcement officer in White County, Tennessee. And he just ordered deputies to murder an unarmed man because he wanted to protect a few patrol cars from being damaged.
Last April, police in Smithville, Tennessee decided to pull over Michael Dial over a suspended license. When Dial didn't pull over, police kept trailing him. None of the cars ever reached a high speed; instead, deputies said it proceeded at a "funeral" pace. Eventually, deputies tried to use the patrol cars they were driving to stop Dial.
That's when Sheriff Shoupe got involved, telling deputies to shoot and kill Dial. Officers shot the man in the head, killing him instantly. The entire time, he was unarmed. When one of the deputies became visibly upset over Dial's murder, Shoupe attempted to reassure him, saying "I made the decision... You done exactly right." Shoupe then explained that he authorized the deadly shooting because he didn't want officers to damage their cars.
That's right. He's saying a car's cosmetics are more important to him than a human being's life.
Unbeknownst to him, a body cam was capturing every word he was saying. Here's some of what it caught:
- "I said, 'Don't ram him, shoot him.' F*** that shit. Ain't gonna tear up my cars."
- "If they don't think I'll give the damn order to kill that motherf***er, they're full of shit. (laughter)"
- And, finally: "I love this shit. God I tell you what, I thrive on it."
This is a person who has sworn to uphold the law. To protect the community. To serve the community. And he has just revealed himself to be a trigger-happy, violence-loving abuser of power. He is not safe to have on our streets. Sheriff Shoupe must be fired immediately!
