'100 Bad Dudes' Come Together To Stop Racial Divide

Protesters met in downtown Tulsa with the goal of breaking down stereotypes in light of Terence Crutcher's death.

The protesters call themselves “bad dudes,” referring to a comment made in a police video the night Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby shot and killed Crutcher.

Protesters said it was all about changing perception for the better - not just about black men, but all races and genders.

There was a reason Darryl Tugler and dozens of other men dressed up to protest.

"If I came up here with some basketball shorts on and some sneakers on, I might be perceived differently," he said.

Protest organizer, Lavell Harris said, "We basically want to show the world what bad boys look like.”

Harris was referring to what was said in the Tulsa police helicopter video taken of Crutcher before he was shot and killed. One officer in the chopper comments, “That looks like a bad dude too; could be on something."

Special Coverage: Terence Crutcher Police Shooting

The protesters said the officer was profiling when he made that comment - something they say needs to stop from all sides, for all races.

"We need to stop profiling,” Harris said. “And we kind of want to break this barrier dividing us. We want to bring everyone together because it's not just black folks, it's everyone."

"I come today and I'm standing as a proud mom to say - This is my baby. And because of him and because these people standing right here, he'll be able to have a better America, he'll be able to have a better Tulsa," one protester said.

The point, they said, is that there are so many facets to one person that you can't know them all just by what they're wearing or what they look like at that moment.

Harris said, "We wake up, we big bad fathers, big bad uncles, big bad mentors, so we kind of want to spread the word what big bad boys look like."

"We can be bad dudes, but we're going to be bad dudes in suits," Tugler said.

Many of the protesters are from the Save Our Youth Foundation - a non-profit dedicated to fighting child abuse.