Walter Scott shooting: Police officer faces murder charge in death of black man

[Thomas the Tank Engine]

A white South Carolina police officer is facing a murder charge over the shooting death of a black man who appeared to be fleeing from him, local authorities said on Tuesday.

 

A video of the Saturday incident, in which North Charleston police officer Michael Slager appeared to shoot a man identified by local media as 50-year-old Walter Scott, was viewed by state investigators, and a decision was made to charge Slager with murder, North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey told a news conference.

 

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"When you're wrong, you're wrong," Summey told reporters. "If you make a bad decision, I don't care if you're behind the shield or just a citizen on the street, you have to live by that decision."

 

The incident began after Scott was pulled over for a broken taillight, local media reported.

 

A video of the encounter published by the New York Times shows a brief scuffle between the officer and the victim before the latter begins running away.

 

The video, which appears to be shot by a bystander, then shows the officer firing several shots at the victim, who falls to the ground.

 

WARNING: This video contains graphic content

 

 

 

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/walter-scott-shooting-police-officer-faces-murder-charge-in-death-of-black-man-1.3024036

[macrosslover]

Just watched the video and I wouldn't be surprised if this officer gets the death penalty.  I imagine the plea deal they offer him would be life without parole.  The guy shouldn't have run from the traffic stop to begin with but nothing that happened was an excuse to gun him down like that and then tamper with evidence to fit your story.  I would have expected better for somebody that served in the Coast Guard.

[LakeRat]

Based on the video, the cop committed murder. Plain & simple.

 

Walter Scott shouldn't have run. He might still be alive if he hadn't. But, who knows with that cop?

[123456789A]

Definitely a bad decision on the police officer's part, but why is the media drumming this one up under race again? Would it be a non story if the victim was white?

[Nogib]

I fail to see any wrongdoing in this video whatsoever.  The world is a better place as a result.  Win!

[Shiranui]

I fail to see any wrongdoing in this video whatsoever.

Indeed, Mr Scott did nothing to justify being killed.

 

The world is a better place as a result.  Win!

Certainly is, as the thug-in-uniform who shot him is being charged with murder.

[chrisj1968]

Just like this? Cops out of control.. notice cops right at the end of video punching woman needlessly. she was apparently handcuffed already

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJuKlQF0meg

[Wyn6]

Definitely a bad decision on the police officer's part, but why is the media drumming this one up under race again? Would it be a non story if the victim was white?

I would certainly hope it would be a story regardless of who the victim was. But, I think you see and will see race enter the picture simply because this doesn't usually happen to white people. There have been instances in which white people have aimed guns and/or fired on law enforcement officers and have been arrested and taken alive afterwards. If a bIack suspect fires on a cop, they can expect to die as well they should. Now, I'm not saying ALL whites live after such incidents, nor am I saying that all blacks die.

 

But, the discrepancy here is the rate at which UNARMED black males are gunned down by cops versus UNARMED white males. Hell, a cop was killed last year by a white male who had a .22 in his pocket. The cop never suspected the guy, thus never drew his weapon. But, the drawing of a weapon seems, often times, to be the first response to a black male.

 

This is a brief, and not entirely coherent, generalization as to why race is being brought into this. The entire reasoning is another thread unto itself.

[DocM]

According to the NY Times story this incident started with a traffic stop for a broken light.

Before pulling him over most cops would have followed the TLC radio procedure: report the Tag number, the Location, and Color of the vehicle. TLC would have brought back Scott's outstanding warrant for being behind in his child support payments. Scott clearly ran because of not wanting to go to the pokey, but this is a nonviolent misdemeanor at worst.

Under the US Supreme Court decision Tennessee v. Garner deadly force....

....may not be used [by police] unless necessary to prevent the escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious bodily harm to the officer or others.

.

Clearly both offenses were minor and there was no "probable cause" to suspect Scott was a "serious threat" to anyone or anything other than his ex-wife's finances.

This cop should indeed be prosecuted.

Tennessee v. Garner does not usually apply to civilians because they do not need probable cause to stop a fleeing criminal. This was decided in the Michigan State Supreme Court case People v. Crouch, which has been repeated cited in other states and never challenged.

[techbeck]

I would certainly hope it would be a story regardless of who the victim was. But, I think you see and will see race enter the picture simply because this doesn't usually happen to white people. There have been instances in which white people have aimed guns and/or fired on law enforcement officers and have been arrested and taken alive afterwards. If a bIack suspect fires on a cop, they can expect to die as well they should. Now, I'm not saying ALL whites live after such incidents, nor am I saying that all blacks die.

 

But, the discrepancy here is the rate at which UNARMED black males are gunned down by cops versus UNARMED white males. Hell, a cop was killed last year by a white male who had a .22 in his pocket. The cop never suspected the guy, thus never drew his weapon. But, the drawing of a weapon seems, often times, to be the first response to a black male.

 

This is a brief, and not entirely coherent, generalization as to why race is being brought into this. The entire reasoning is another thread unto itself.

 

Race, yea race will come in to play here.  Makes for a good story.  And there have been cases where unarmed white suspects have been shot by black officers that receive little to no coverage.  There are bad cops,and there is a problem.  But what is also a problem is the media painting all cops as bad and making ever case out to be racial.  All they have to do is mention the possibility, whether it plays a role in what happened or not, and people will get stirred up.

 

Anyway video looks like a lazy cop that didnt want to chase after a suspect.    And really, everyone has a camera these days and everyone is on film when they walk out the door.  Or have the potential to be .  Think people would act smarter and actually think before they act.

[123456789A]

Race, yea race will come in to play here.  Makes for a good story.  And there have been cases where unarmed white suspects have been shot by black officers that receive little to no coverage.  There are bad cops,and there is a problem.  But what is also a problem is the media painting all cops as bad and making ever case out to be racial.  All they have to do is mention the possibility, whether it plays a role in what happened or not, and people will get stirred up.

 

Anyway video looks like a lazy cop that didnt want to chase after a suspect.    And really, everyone has a camera these days and everyone is on film when they walk out the door.  Or have the potential to be .  Think people would act smarter and actually think before they act.

 

Yeah this cop was just lazy. Instead of giving him a gun, maybe they should have given him a lasso instead.

[x-scratch]

cop deserves death. he killed somebody in cold blood

[Gladiatorus]

Effing murderer.

[+Warwagon MVC]

WOW ... his moto must be "When in doubt shoot 5 times"

[Gladiatorus]

WOW ... his moto must be "When in doubt shoot 8 times"

 

Fixed it for ya...

[madd-hatter]

Based on the video, the cop committed murder. Plain & simple.

 

Walter Scott shouldn't have run. He might still be alive if he hadn't. But, who knows with that cop?

I'd hardly call that running... He could have been caught quite easily.

[Defcon]

Most cops who murder people then lie about it  with bs like 'it was justified'. People (incl on this very forum) then defend them with nonsense like 'don't provoke the cops' as if that justifies killng someone. Judges will side with cops and DA's refuse to even prosecute unless its a clear cut case like this one which is also a chance for publicity for them.

 

The number of murders by cops in this country is absolutely insane, a lot more of them need to be in prison.

[Rippleman]

Most cops who murder people then lie about it  with bs like 'it was justified'. People (incl on this very forum) then defend them with nonsense like 'don't provoke the cops' as if that justifies killng someone. Judges will side with cops and DA's refuse to even prosecute unless its a clear cut case like this one which is also a chance for publicity for them.

 

The number of murders by cops in this country is absolutely insane, a lot more of them need to be in prison.

there will be no one defending this... some situations sure, but not this one.

[chrisj1968]

I'd look at this past skin color. It could escalate to any race for any reason. If they are brutal to the point to do these things in open public as they are, this may just get much worse.

[soniqstylz]

there will be no one defending this... some situations sure, but not this one.

 

You have much more faith in humanity than I do.  I'm waiting for the right-wing GoFundMe page to be set up for his legal fund.

[ctebah]

Cop shot the guy and is now facing charges. Fair, but race should not be brought up.

[compl3x]

It's naive to think that race relations with law enforcement & incarceration in the U.S. is a non issue.

[Rippleman]

Cop shot the guy and is now facing charges. Fair, but race should not be brought up.

that's what I thought too, media creates situations where there didn't have to be. 

[madd-hatter]

Cop shot the guy and is now facing charges. Fair, but race should not be brought up.

 

Maybe in 50-100 years. In today's reality, ignoring the factor of race would be, as complex said, naive.

 

I'm not saying that race provoked the event, but ignoring it is not the correct response.

[ATLien_0]

Apparently this is the dash cam footage that shows what started everything.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/04/watch-police-release-dashcam-footage-of-traffic-stop-that-led-to-fatal-walter-scott-shooting