Vox Sentences: "Without question a murder": campus cop indicted for shooting

A University of Cincinnati police officer who shot an unarmed black man to death has been indicted for murder; Taliban founder Mullah Mohammed Omar is maybe kind of sort of dead (maybe); and a GOP backbencher makes an aborted attempt to dethrone John Boehner.

TOP NEWS

"Without question a murder"

A still from the body camera footage of DuBose's death. (Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters)

• University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing has been indicted for the murder of Samuel DuBose, whom he shot to death during a minor traffic stop.

  [NYT / Richard Pérez-Peña]

• Tensing was wearing a body camera that captured the whole traffic stop and shooting. He stopped DuBose because his car didn't have a front license plate. He asked for a driver's license, which DuBose didn't have, and then asked DuBose to take off his seat belt.

  [Vox / German Lopez]

• The car began to move forward slowly, when Tensing shot DuBose once in the head and killed him. Tensing had claimed in his police report he was dragged and "almost run over" by the car, which the footage reveals as a lie.

  [Vox / German Lopez]

• The University of Cincinnati's police force has authority to investigate traffic offenses nearby under an agreement with the city.

  [CNN / Ralph Ellis, Don Melvin, and David Shortell]

• Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters: "This office has probably reviewed upwards of 100 police shootings. This is the first time that we thought this is without question a murder."

  [WSJ / Joe Barrett]

• Almost all universities have armed police, but it's a relatively recent phenomenon, only becoming widespread in response to student protests in the 1960s.

  [Vox / Libby Nelson]

• For more, see German Lopez's comprehensive explainer on the case.

  [Vox / German Lopez]

How exaggerated are reports of Mullah Omar's death?

The two photos the State Department has of Omar. (Rewards for Justice)

• The government of Afghanistan has stated that it is certain Mullah Mohammed Omar, who founded the Taliban and ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, died in April 2013 in Pakistan.

  [CNN / Nick Paton Walsh, Peter Bergen, and Jason Hanna]

• A White House spokesperson wouldn't confirm the reports, but said US officials found them "credible."

  [NYT / Rod Nordland and joseph Goldstein]

• Some caution is warranted, as Afghanistan's spy agency has claimed Mullah Omar died in the past before retreating from the claims.

  [WSJ / Margherita Stancati, Ehsanullah Amiri, and Saeed Shah]

• The Washington Post's Peter Finn has a good rundown of Mullah Omar's life leading up to and during his rule of Afghanistan, including this astonishing justification for destroying two ancient Buddhist statues: "Allah will ask me, ‘Omar, you have brought a superpower called the Soviet Union to its knees. You could not break two statues.' And what would Mullah Omar reply?"

  [Washington Post / Peter Finn]

• Mullah Omar was purportedly releasing missives as recently as two weeks ago supporting peace talks with the Afghan government. It's unclear how the announcement of his death will affect that process.

  [WSJ / Margherita Stancati, Ehsanullah Amiri, and Saeed Shah]

Even Yukio Mishima's coup got further than this

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) doing Congress stuff. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

• On Tuesday evening, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) filed a motion to oust Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), the first such request in the US House in 105 years.

  [Washington Post / Mike DeBonis]

• But the effort earned very little support from Meadows's colleagues, and Boehner dismissed it as "no big deal."

  [LA Times / Lisa Mascaro]

• Meadows declined to push for an actual vote, instead effectively giving Boehner control over whether the resolution gets a vote, raising the shocking possibility that this was more a stunt than a real coup attempt.

  [Vox / Jonathan Allen]

• Meadows says he meant to start a "family conversation" among Republicans about the quality of their leadership.

  [Washington Post / Mike DeBonis]

• You can read more in Jonathan Allen's explainer on the effort here.

  [Vox / Jonathan Allen]

MISCELLANEOUS

This scientist wants to reduce the suffering of farm animals — by genetically engineering them. [Mother Jones / Kat McGowan]

• I didn't want to know what the word "cuckservative" meant, but now I do and so I'm making you all learn with me.

  [Washington Post / David Weigel]

• Berchtesgaden is a lovely German vacation town. Underneath it, there's a vast underground complex with 4 miles of tunnels the Nazis built as a safe house.

  [Atlas Obscura / Luke Spencer]

• Introducing cat yoga. Yoga, but in the vicinity of cats. Yoga with cats. Cat yoga. I'm talking about cat yoga.

  [NY Mag / Jessica Roy]

• A diligent YouTuber has gone through and documented every change George Lucas has made to the original Star Wars trilogy.

  [Slate / Laura Bradley]

• Learning disabilities and mental health problems are often seen as less "real" disabilities. But new research confirms that kids with mental disabilities who lose disability benefits as adults suffer considerably.

  [Washington Post / Jeff Guo]

VERBATIM

"Where’s Nirvana? Nirvana’s nowhere. The Weeknd is Nirvana. Darn."

• "Mr. Pickles is the Satan incarnate in the show and viewers are being told to give their soul to him. I’m no prude, but this is Cartoon Network for Christ’s sake!"

  [Anonymous FCC complainant via AV Club / Jennifer Billock]

• "Surprise him with a beer when he gets out of the shower when he is slippery, the floor is wet and his reflexes are at their weakest! He will be certain to fall for you then. If he does not, soap the floor."

  [Washington Post / Alexandra Petri]

• "Somewhere, maybe in the office of US Weekly’s on-staff Wiccan, sand began running through an hourglass: when it’s through, they will break up, get a cover, and Kaitlyn will soon be seen canoodling with professional athletes. "

  [Slate / Willa Paskin]

WATCH THIS

(Vox / Joseph Stromberg)

• The fascinating process of human decomposition

  [YouTube / Joss Fong and Joseph Stromberg]

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