TULSA, Okla. -- A citation issued months ago surfaced Wednesday after Betty Shelby's record was expunged.
Oklahoma State Senator Kevin Matthews said the scholarship foundation will help Terence Crutcher's children after losing their father.
"The scholarship foundation is a positive thing. And those people trying to make this a negative is a dirty, dirty thing . We're trying to get past that in Tulsa and across the state," Matthews said.
Then Tulsa Police officer Betty Shelby shot and killed Crutcher in 2016. She was acquitted earlier this year and is now a reserve deputy with the Rogers County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff Scott Walton said Shelby was doing her job that day, and that Crutcher was a threat to police.
"A PCP addict. A man that spent a good portion of his life in the penitentiary. A gang member. And these characteristics here do not come out in the proclamation," Walton said.
Walton said he wants Crutcher's family to recover and for his children to succeed, but he does not understand why the man is being honored by the state.
"Are the standards forever changed on the people we establish scholarships for and foundations for? I thought these were for lives that benefited the community that produced in the community," Walton said.
Both the Sheriff and Senator hope to move past the issue and to strive for less hate and division in the community.
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