Posted on 04/09/2015 4:26:02 PM PDT by smokingfrog
Dash cam video of a traffic stop provided the world with another piece of evidence Thursday in a fatal police shooting. It showed no indication of any physical or verbal threats before the driver bolts and the officer chases after him.
The video, released Thursday by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, shows what begins as a seemingly routine stop for a broken tail light. The officer, Michael Slager, approaches the used Mercedes-Benz driven by Walter Lamer Scott, and asks for license and registration. There's a brief exchange, and the officer returns to his cruiser.
Scott then takes off running.
(Excerpt) Read more at aol.com ...
I have no idea what the objects were he is seen picking up, dropping and then picking up.
BTW, since he was stupid enough to shoot this suspect in the back multiple times, at what appears to be an unarmed suspect running away from him, he might be a pretty stupid guy. I don’t know.
I have no idea what he was thinking or what he picked up, dropped, and picked up.
It's why I'd like to see his statement.
I don't know why they'd hold it from public view, since they already have all the evidence they're going to get in this case, including video. It should be interesting to read it as his statement was taken way before the video surfaced.
On one of the videos it seems that there is still a rather large object on the gravel path, after the cop drops the smaller object by the body. The object the cop drops seems too small to be the entire taser.
One other thing, the video will place him at or near the exact spot. As shell casings ejected are approximate. They roll, bounce, fly and other factors, they can get close but not as close as they would using the video.
So the casing are not really a factor here. And not what he picked up. Because what ever he picked up at the point of fire was one object. He was not searching around for all the brass.
During the two-handed execution, there is an object visible on the walkway a couple of feet in front of Slager's left foot. However, after the shooting, it is still in the same place, and Slager ignores it when he returns to the vicinity to fetch whatever he was after. Whatever he picks up appears to have been lying in the grass.
The object the cop drops seems too small to be the entire taser.
It's really hard to make out what he dropped. That's why it's so annoying that the NBC drive-by moron (Lester Holt) who interviewed Santana failed to pursue the issue.
cops should be held to a higher standard than civilians.
this cop had every reason to chase the victim— but not to shoot the victim in the back while he was fleeing, 25+ feet away and no imminent threat to the cop or anyone else.
thus the act is an execution. murder 1 or murder 2? murder 1 is planned while murder 2 is not planned. i personally would go for murder 2.
however, i am not the da. the da has to have a prosecution strategy. one possible strategy is to go into court with legal guns blazing, upping the ante. why would the da do that? — usually the da and le are on the same side against a perp in court. this time, they will be on opposite sides if the case goes to trial. in between now and the trial, it is a battle in the court of public opinion. the da perhaps wants to appear tough, especially if le dropped the ball in the initial investigation.
anyway maybe the da wants to aim high in the expectation of a plea bargain request. if so, it might go: da->defense: murder 1; defense->da: manslaughter; da->defense: murder 2; defense->da: (accept).
note that just about any sentence for the cop might be equivalent to a death sentence, since the cop will be serving time in prison with other violent felons, almost all of whom are in prison because cops caught them.
i am not sorry for the cop because he should not be out there shooting unarmed fleeing people in the back and then lying about it in the hope that no one would catch him in the lie. that is a violation of the public trust. the cop seems to me like he drew the gun because he was too lazy to chase the victim and tackle him. furthermore, he seems like he is relying on the thin blue line to back him up and deem this a righteous shoot.
as for the victim running away, imho we cannot judge the particulars. if the guy had an arrest record, he will have difficulty getting a job. the guy owes child support. so he has two strikes against him. we do not know the circumstances of the child support. is/are the kid/kids actually his? did his SO cheat on him and then make a false accusation of SO abuse against him? i do not see how this is relevant to whether the shooting was justified.
if the shooting is not justified then two observations are important. first is that screening and/or training is flawed. this case is reminiscent of the fruitvale bart station case from a couple of years ago. in both cases, a taser was involved but in both cases, the results were fatal to the victim. the second is that le internal investigation seems to be institutionally flawed in favor of le, to the point that le behavior seems to rely on this to the detriment of justice.
both of these considerations point towards much larger problems than just a single isolated bad le shooting.
Or because they think they'll get a beat down like this if they stop and spread eagle & then hands behind the back: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Man-on-Stolen-Horse-Stunned-by-Sheriffs-Deputies-in-IE-299250951.html
FR thread on the topic: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3277654/posts
You're making my point.
I'm very sorry.
That kind of goes along with being founded in response to government tyranny.
“Then the police made a mistake when they watched the video and charged him with murder.”
In my opinion yes, they’re going to have a hard time getting a conviction of murder on that one. He clearly killed the man while he was running away and there was no need for that but what started the incident and led to eventual shooting is where the defense will make their argument. That’s where I think sticking him with a murder charge is going to be tough. The DA has yet to say a word that I’m aware of he/she will have the eventual say in how and what direction this will go. Who knows what the Grand Jury is going to do, should it go to trial guessing the juries response is even harder. I’ve sat in the courtroom many times with what I thought was indisputable evidence presented only to watch a defense attorney completely turn a jury sideways and get a not guilty verdict. I hope the DA ways the options carefully, a lesser charge while not having quite the same impact could get the same results and be much easier to prove and get past a jury.
Do I misunderstand you? Do you really think the Founding Fathers sacrificed all so that Trayvon Martin could become Martin Luther King Jr?
You are definitely misunderstanding; George Zimmerman was never an agent of the state. As such, your comment is inappropriate, and inching up on deceit.
The difference is your brother was not going to go back to jail on an outstanding warrent.
Sure, OJ walked, but we can hope for justice to prevail.
The cleaner the dead guy's past is the more likely I am to believe that the cop should do many,many years.The dirtier the cop's past is the more likely I am to believe he should do many,many years.But until I know everything about both I'm not gonna jump to any conclusions.
But one thing I *will* seriously contemplate is the fact that this guy ran from a stop for a broken tail light.Curious....*very* curious.
Your point is to dismiss it as race, my point is that it is because people can see this murder take place in clear, unfuzzy video.
This most definitely should be a national news story.
Especially since he'd already given the police his driver's license.
The press is bad - but not that bad. They don’t execute anyone and lack the power to be judge and jury. Well, except in the court of public opinion.
I think it’s a badge of honor that we care how criminals are treated. It means we’re a civilized country. You object to that?
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