I’d be curious to know who provided the video, and what may have been cut out of it.
If what I have read is reasonably accurate, then it looks like this guy got out of his car, started a fight with the officer, grabbed his taser, dropped it in a further struggle, and then ran.
Then the officer shot him in the back.
Did the video include any of the earlier part of this, maybe cut by the provider?
Shooting a fleeing crook in the back isn’t good. But I don’t see this as deliberate murder. He had at least some justification for what he did. More like manslaughter, at worst.
What excuse does an armed, trained, experienced police officer have to shoot an unarmed man, posing no threat to the officer or anyone else, 5 times in the back?
“If what I have read is reasonably accurate, then it looks like this guy got out of his car, started a fight with the officer, grabbed his taser, dropped it in a further struggle, and then ran.”
The problem would be is that you are taking the word of the cop who has already been proven to be telling lies.
This would be the same cop who we know picked up his TAZER and dropped it next to the dead man’s body.
Justification? what justification? what lethal risk did the guy pose to anyone at that point?
Whether he still had the Tazer may have been in doubt (cop may not have seen him drop it), but mere possession of a specifically non-lethal device (short of specific possibly lethal circumstances, which this obviously wasn’t) does not warrant lethal force when they guy is fleeing.
I watched the video. While we don’t see what happened before or after (and nothing is reported as relevant), it did seem entirely complete and un-cut.
“Shooting a fleeing crook in the back isn’t good.”
Could you please cite the crime that Mr. Scott was convicted of sometime between the moment he ran and the moment he was shot?
Otherwise, he was not a crook.
Even if the events unfolded just as you described, and you have ZERO evidence to support it, it’s still murder.
You do know that, I take it.
The Taser lands about 4-5 feet behind Slager. It’s clearly visible.
Taser wires are coming from behind Slager where the taser has fallen, going over his arm, and down to Scott, still attached to Scott. Slager has his pistol in his hands.
Slager returns to Taser and picks it up. Same spot as in the first pic.
http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/ht_walter_scott_shooting_video_new_02_jc_150409_4x3_992.jpg
Slager drops Taser near Scott, with other officer right there witnessing the drop.
http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/ht_walter_scott_shooting_video_new_01_jc_150409_4x3_992.jpg
” He had at least some justification for what he did”
Nonewhatsoever. There’s no justification for shooting an unarmed man in the back 5 times at 50 feet while the man is fleeing a traffic stop for a broken tail light. If that’s justified, then you’ve just handed every cop in the nation a license to murder pretty much whomever they want, whenever they want, and for whatever reason they want.
Is this the incident in which the officer shot the fleeing individual 8 times? Cause if so it's gonna be real hard to prove it wasn't murder.
