A white South Carolina police officer is facing murder charges after being filmed shooting a black man as ran from the scene of a traffic stop.
Patrolman First Class Michael Slager, 33, shot Walter Scott, 50, in North Charleston on Saturday after pulling him over for a malfunctioning brake light.
Slager was charged with murder, a felony which carries a conviction of death or a term of 30 years to life in prison, according to a statement from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
The agency, known as SLED, generally investigates officer-involved shootings in the state, and a spokesperson said their investigation is ongoing. It was the 11th officer-involved shooting in South Carolina this year.
The Post and Courier / Via vimeo.com
On Sunday, Slager’s attorney at the time, David Aylor, said that what started out as a routine traffic stop had quickly escalated when a foot chase ensued. Scott was wanted for arrest related to a family court warrant, and he had a history of arrest related to unpaid child support, the Post and Courier reported.
In a statement carried by WFLA, Aylor said Scott “confronted Officer Slager, reached for his Taser, as trained by the department, and then a struggle ensued as the driver tried to overpower Officer Slager in an effort to take his Taser who then felt threatened and reached for his department issued firearm and fired his weapon.”
But footage of the incident shot by a bystander — and first obtained by the New York Times and the Post and Courier — appears to show a different set events.
The footage shows Scott being shot eight times as he attempted to run away.
The footage then shows Scott collapsing to the ground. The video then appears to show Slager dropping an object next to Scott’s body.
On Tuesday, Aylor announced that he was no longer representing Slager, calling the shooting death “a terrible tragedy.”
Charleston County Sheriff’s Office
At a news conference Tuesday, authorities announced that after viewing the footage, they had decided to charge the officer with murder.
“I can tell you that as a result of that video and the bad decision made by our officer, he will be charged with murder,” North Charleston Mayor R. Keith Summey told reporters, according to the Washington Post.
Inmate records for the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office show Slager was taken into custody on Tuesday afternoon. A bail amount had not been set Tuesday night, and his first appearance in court was scheduled for Aug. 21.
A spokesman for the North Charleston Police Department told BuzzFeed News that Slager was also fired from the police force on Tuesday.
The incident comes amid heightened racial tension in the U.S. following the decisions by grand juries in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City not to file charges against white police officers who had killed unarmed black men.
A September 2014 report from the Post and Courier found that North Charleston’s police force failed to represent the racial diversity of the community.
North Charleston’s population is 45% black, yet black officers make up just 17% of the police force, the Post and Courier reported.
Scott’s family gathered with their attorneys Tuesday night to thank the person who took the video for coming forward. The family will be filing a separate civil lawsuit, their attorney’s said.
NBC News / Via nbcnews.com
Attorney Chris Stewart called the bystander a hero for taking the video. Without it, there may have been no consequences for the officer.
“What happened today doesn’t happen all the time,” he said. “What if there was no video or no witness?”
Stewart added the shooting was about more than race.
“It’s about the value of human life,” he said. “Any person in this country, no matter what race you are, can see that this is murder.”
Scott’s brother, Anthony Scott, added that the family was glad to see the truth come out.
NBC News / Via nbcnews.com
They immediately doubted the officer’s claim that Scott had resisted arrest, Anthony Scott said. His brother was an outgoing and kind man, he added. He loved the Dallas Cowboys, served two years in the U.S. Coast Guard, and had four children.
“I don’t think all police officers are bad cops, but there are some bad ones out there,” Anthony Scott said. “I don’t want to see anyone get shot down like my brother was.”
He added that he was unsure if his brother had been racially profiled before his death, but hoped for change within local police departments and others across the U.S.
“I don’t think you should be stopped because of the car that you’re driving or the color of your skin,” he said.
