The only sane rationalization I can envision at the moment: the two WERE struggling hand-to-hand, and Scott DID seem to remove something (a Tazer, a dangerous thing for an opponent to take under such circumstances), putting the cop in the awkward position of using lethal force lest non-lethal be leveraged into lethal ... as the cop transitioned to preparing to use lethal force, Scott dropped the Tazer and fled, and the cop didn’t transition out of the lethal-force mindset in time to avoid shooting. Understandable, though completely unacceptable and worthy of severe consequences.
Scott doesn’t appear to have ever had the taser.
Watch this breakdown of the video. The ‘struggle’ was nothing more than the officer grabbing Scott by the wrist and Scott twisting away. It’s on there.
I despise some of the 60’s hippie terminology but in this case fully support calling this cop a pig for what he did.