North Charleston officer faces murder charge after video shows him shooting man in back

The Post and Courier ^ | 04/06/2015 | Andrew Knapp

[Kid Shelleen]

A North Charleston police officer was arrested on a murder charge and the FBI opened a civil rights investigation Tuesday after video surfaced of the lawman shooting eight times at 50-year-old Walter Scott as he ran away.

Scott died Saturday after Patrolman 1st Class Michael Slager, 33, shot him in the back.

The video footage, which The Post and Courier obtained Tuesday from a source who asked to remain anonymous, shows the end of the confrontation between the two on

[Ken H]

It’s about 2 feet in front of his left foot. Do you see an object there?

[submarinerswife]

“Former slave state, racism still exists” “black man hunted down like a dog by a racist white cop”

The national news is all over this. Yeah, the cop clearly should be charged, no doubt, but this is going to open SC to a whole slew of attention for things that are not true. Remember Jesse Jackson’s failed boycott because of the confederate flag? Here we go again........Dot Scott, remember her name. She is the head of our local NAACP chapter.

[Robert Teesdale]

Got a look at Mr. Scott’s record. He had an assault and a possession of a bludgeon a few decades back, nothing recent involving violence. He had about ten fairly recent arrests for driving suspended, open container, contempt of court, and failure to pay child support... all small change.

None of the above are capital offenses providing post-facto justification for summary killing by the State.

[Robert Teesdale]

Good explanations of why this officer was probably justified in the shooting: http://forums.officer.com/t199100/

I read the link you provided.

Lots of justification for the murderous State and those who apparently feel they are entitled to kill for it.

Not one comment of "This is wrong, we should not be shooting people in the back."

[JabaliHunter]

So, a career thug, with a warrant for his arrest, driving a non-compliant car, is stopped, assaults an officer, resists arrest, disobeys lawful orders, runs, and suffers consequences.... and anyone who says, hey, lets not jump to conclusions, there is a lot that happened before the video, we need ALL the facts, not just the ones the MSM decides to show us... that person who urges not jumping to conclusions is a statist boot licker? Is that what you are saying, because I don´t want to misunderstand you?

[Robert Teesdale]

So, a career thug,

Not a capital offense.

...with a warrant for his arrest,

Not a capital offense.

...driving a non-compliant car,

Not a capital offense.

...is stopped, assaults an officer,

Not a capital offense.

...resists arrest,

Not a capital offense.

...disobeys lawful orders,

Not a capital offense.

...runs,

Not a capital offense.

...and suffers consequences....

Not even ALL of the above, added together, combine to the level of a capital offense.

And "judge, jury and executioner" is a repellent and unAmerican concept to begin with.

...and anyone who says, hey, lets not jump to conclusions, there is a lot that happened before the video, we need ALL the facts, not just the ones the MSM decides to show us...

At the time of the killing, the deceased was not presenting any threat, nor was the killer in any danger other than loss of dignity.

...that person who urges not jumping to conclusions is a statist boot licker?

Some things are clearly apparent right away. Casual, repeat aimed fire at the back of a distant man not presenting a threat displays depraved indifference to human life, while depriving another of life without due process and under color of authority. It's about as bad as it gets.

Is that what you are saying, because I don´t want to misunderstand you?

The examination of all the evidence will take place by a jury that will subsequently render a verdict on a capital murder charge by this former enforcer of State hegemony.

Subsequent to due process conviction of capital murder, the execution of this former LEO by the People of South Carolina would be a welcome redirecton of current social trends. The rise of the Warrior Cop does inevitably lead to this:



And this:

[ncpatriot]

No doubt in my mind that this guy is a bad cop. Send him to prison for life which won’t last long.

[The_Media_never_lie]

This just the type of event the media was waiting for. Fits the narrative, excellent video; what is not to like for the race baiters?

[Half Vast Conspiracy]

Thanks for signing up just to post that bit of blather.

[Half Vast Conspiracy]

Alaska Wolf? Is that you?

[JabaliHunter]

“Some things are clearly apparent right away. “

Well then why even bother with a trial, since what you seem to be saying is he is guilty until proven otherwise. I guess I misunderstood that whole thing about presumption of innocence.

Looks like the MSM is doing a good job these days. Obama must be very happy.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

8 out of 8 were hits?

Didn't look like it to me, that guy kept running out of range.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

I say turn the cop loose in full uniform with badge and no gun in Ferguson.

Better yet, equip the hell out of him and drop him in the ISIS fire zone, where those guys shoot back at 'warriors'.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

You sound like Alan Colmes.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this officer is a complete moron. Why else would a white officer unload his gun into the back of a fleeing black suspect after everything we’ve seen this past year? He looked trigger happy to me.

Standard procedure should be blood testing the LEO for drugs and/or steroids.

[Robert Teesdale]

Well then why even bother with a trial, since what you seem to be saying is he is guilty until proven otherwise. I guess I misunderstood that whole thing about presumption of innocence.

The videotaped evidence is damning. The body language of the officer is relaxed, unhurried, and murderous. The body language of the citizen, prior to his decease, may well be "fleeing" but it looks a lot more to me like a fat man waddling away in terror than a "immediate lethal danger to the public that warranted unhesitating application of deadly force."

If you read rather than react, you will see I have consistently stated that a due process trial is part of the demanded outcome here.

Looks like the MSM is doing a good job these days. Obama must be very happy.

The video evidence of capital murder is unquestionably sufficient for trial. I have no opinion on any contradictory evidence. Projection is not prediction. There's no question that the shooter deserves a fair and speedy trial. I don't worry that he will be denied one.

All the statism here seems to be based on fear of admitting the State really is NOT your friend after all and not on concern for rights or process or evidence or anything else.

I understand. It is hard to admit your culture died and your nation is gone and that the uniforms and honor you once admired have turned and are now purely representative of evil in many fundamental ways. Tip: the State is not your friend. The State is not the friend of anyone, but more a natural force that flows from fatal power and is channeled by the fallen nature of Man.

I'll add that when I say uniform, I mean domestically. I suspect our true military forces (not these weaponized steroid-pumped Barney "Pew Pew Pew" Fife disgraces that pass for LEO's today) would gladly show up a few SWAT teams that raided the wrong house one too many times.

I've never heard armed insurrection whispered into an empty well at midnight, in ill-remembered dreams. I won't admit to it.

[JAKraig]

a.(1) his backup was arriving and could and did render care.

a(2) absent supplies, about the only care you can provide in that situation is to position the individual so that he doesn't aspirate.

b. You don't leave department property laying on the ground where you can't keep an eye on it and some bystander can walk off with it.

Not as inflammatory, but they make as much sense to me as a cop trying to “plant” a weapon that wouldn't help his case any.

_______________________________________________________

I'm sorry but your logic is driving me crazy.

His backup was coming so he moved the tazer to where he could say the perp dropped it after being shot. His backup would not know any different and might make it a clean shoot.

“You don't leave department property on the ground”. You do leave that property on the ground and don't touch it if it is part of a crime scene.

The cop “clearly” planted a weapon. This is a bad cop. The perp might not be an angel but the cop is a murderer. It appears the cop was angry at the perp and too lazy to chase him so killed him. Unless he gets the death penalty it won't be enough.

This is one of the most sickening videos I have ever seen the only thing that makes me sicker is knowing that without the video he would have gotten away with it.

[Robert Teesdale]

I say turn the cop loose in full uniform with badge and no gun in Ferguson.

Better yet, equip the hell out of him and drop him in the ISIS fire zone, where those guys shoot back at 'warriors'.

Calls for cruel or unusual punishment are improper.

Try him for capital murder. Upon conviction of same, put him to death by lethal injection or the electric chair, whichever the People of South Carolina indicate as appropriate.

[ArmstedFragg]

I’m sorry logic disturbs you so. You make a number of claims that don’t seem to have any evidence to support them, do you have anything concrete, are incapable or realizing that sometimes facts don’t match your beliefs, or are you just insisting that the whole world accept your assumptions without determining the facts?

1. Do you know for a fact that the object on the ground was a taser?

2. Do you have clear and persuasive evidence that the only reason the officer moved the object was to plant evidence?

3. Can you articulate any way in which having a taser found next to the subject would help the officer’s case, but having it found at the point where he assaulted the officer wouldn’t?

If you have direct evidence on any of these matters, you need to contact law enforcement and provide it to them. Otherwise, I’ll conclude that you’re basing your position on what you heard, what you feel, what you saw of a one angle video that only covers part of the incident, or you’re just parroting what other like-minded people are posting.

[Robert Teesdale]

Ask a different set of questions and the answers are not in support of the shooter.

Can justice be furthered by adding to, removing from, or altering evidence at crime scenes?

To answer "yes" is precisely why we have the concepts of "drop guns" and "thin blue lines" and the concept of Warrior Cops amidst a hostile population of resistance.