TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa Police Maj. Travis Yates responded to backlash late Tuesday night over the comments he made in a recent interview.
Yates appeared on joined a talk radio show for an interview Monday that touched on the recent protests in Tulsa and around the country.
In the interview, Yates questions the idea of systemic racism leading to police violence.
“This is what they’re trying to say that all these changes need to come from: this is why we’re protesting, this is why we’re rioting. Because of systematic abuse of power and racism. That just doesn’t exist," Yates said.
“All of the research says we’re shooting African-Americans about 24% less than we probably ought to be, based on the crimes being committed.”
Yates responded to an accompanying article that came after the interview in a Facebook post late Tuesday night.
“For one thing, beyond the outrageous, inflammatory headline, I was misquoted,” Yates wrote on Facebook.
“In the context of comparing the probabilities drawn from the statistical research of others, I said, ‘…all of their research says we’re shooting African-Americans about 24% less than we probably ought to be, based on the crimes being committed… This isn’t Travis talking—the research is sound, but nobody’s watching it.'"
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum commented on the Yates interview Wednesday morning.
“I want to believe [Yates] didn’t intend to say what he did, but what he did say goes against everything we are trying to achieve in community policing," he said in part.
Bynum said the comments are under review.
In 2016, Yates came under fire for a blog post in which he suggested police officers were “at war" and criticized the Black Lives Matter movement.
He apologized for the post.
Cox Media Group
