Michael Slager Facing Federal Charges In Walter Scott Killing
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CHARLESTON, S.C. - A white former South Carolina police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist who was running away has been indicted on federal charges including depriving the victim of his civil rights.
An indictment unsealed Wednesday also charges Michael Slager, 34, with obstruction of justice and unlawful use of a weapon during the commission of a crime.
A bystander's cellphone video captured images of Slager, then a North Charleston police officer, firing eight times as Walter Scott, 50, ran from a traffic stop in April 2015. The case inflamed a national debate about how blacks are treated by white police officers.
Slager was charged with murder in state court and fired from the force. He was held in solitary confinement until January, when he was released on half a million dollars bail and put under house arrest at an undisclosed location, allowed to leave only for work, church and medical or legal appointments.
Slager is to appear before a judge in Charleston later Wednesday for an initial appearance on the federal charges. Scott's family said they planned to meet with reporters after the hearing.
Slager's state trial is set to begin this fall, and he faces a possible life sentence without parole. Prosecutors have asked for the trial to be moved up to August or back to May 2017 to give Solicitor Scarlett Wilson time to prepare for another trial, that of Dylann Roof who's charged with shooting nine people to death at a black church in Charleston last summer.
Roof's trial is now set for January, and the state Supreme Court has issued an order protecting Wilson from trying other cases before that one.
Last fall, North Charleston approved a $6.5 million civil settlement with Scott's family.
The settlement gives annuities totaling $1 million to three of Walter Scott's four children, according to court papers obtained by The Post and Courier of Charleston.
Scott's estate will get $3 million, while three law firms who helped represent his family will divide about $2.4 million.
About $17,000 will pay Scott's back child support. The money Scott owed is the reason his family said he ran away from a traffic stop on April 4, 2015, in North Charleston.
Comments
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I'll be surprised if he gets convicted.....I wonder why only 3 out of the four children have an annuity.
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Don't get excited until this ? is convicted. The justice system ain't on our side, this is in the south, and these ? have a way of turning into the cop "fearing for his life"
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I would be impressed if they revoked that pigs bail.. But the Feds are just piling on right now to cover their ? for when the next time a pig kills an unarmed black man and the Feds decide not to do ? about.. They can point out filed charges against this murderous pig who's clearly guilty...
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/05/11/former-north-charleston-officer-who-shot-walter-scott-indicted-on-federal-civil-rights-violation/Slager was one of just 10 officers who were charged with a crime in connection to the 990 fatal police shootings last year, according to a Washington Post database.
Federal civil rights charges are even rarer. An investigation earlier this year by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review found that the Justice Department has declined to bring federal charges in 96 percent of the more than 13,000 federal civil rights complaints against police officers they’ve received since 1995. -
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Black_Samson wrote: »This the gun planter?
It was a taser... -
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manofmorehouse wrote: »Don't get excited until this ? is convicted. The justice system ain't on our side, this is in the south, and these ? have a way of turning into the cop "fearing for his life"
This -
The fact he thought fast and realized something wasn't right when he showed up at the police station wit the vid, and walked back was smart as hell. -
Feds convict at a much higher rate than the states. They convict at a high rate on conspiracy, and thats just hearsay for the most part. Now they got a video and other evidence....once you go fed. It aint a game. You get out from under a fed case, you cold.
And remember, it was already a state case, and it was out the news cycle so there wasnt much pressure to indict it. I wont believe it until hes convicted either but still....this seems more sincere by the actions and circumstances. -
The officer had no choice; he obviously feared for his life.
What about black-on-black crime? THAT'S the real issue.
Police are awesome.
Blue lives matter. -
It's kind of sad he ran because he owed child support.
Pay these ? or the people with guns will come for you. -
$17k in back child support - sounds like years of fuckery by him
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17k in child support smfh still didn't deserve to get killed that's bs but that ? could of been avoided completely a thousand times
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Will Munny wrote: »It's kind of sad he ran because he owed child support.
Pay these ? or the people with guns will come for you.
its real fucced up but thats how ? is wear a condom loc is all i can say -
South Carolina ex-officer defends shooting unarmed man
A white former South Carolina policeman testified in his murder trial on Tuesday that he felt fear before fatally shooting an unarmed black man last year in an incident that intensified debate about racial bias in law enforcement.
Michael Slager, 35, appeared emotional at times on the witness stand in a Charleston courtroom, in his first extensive public detailing of the April 2015 killing of motorist Walter Scott, 50.
A bystander's cellphone video appeared to show Slager firing eight times at Scott's back as he fled after a traffic stop in North Charleston. The recording was shown repeatedly on television and social media.
"My family has been destroyed by this," said Slager, who recalled missing his son's birth after being jailed over the shooting. "Scott's family has been destroyed by this. It's horrible."
Dressed in a dark suit, he described how a normal Saturday turned deadly after he stopped Scott for a broken brake light.
Slager said the motorist ran from him, resisting his orders to stop. Slager testified that when he attempted to use a Taser to subdue Scott, they ended up in a scuffle. Scott grabbed his stun gun, the ex-officer said.
Slager said he felt "total fear" as Scott came toward him. He pulled out his gun and opened fire.
"I fired my firearm until the threat was stopped," he said.
The account by Slager, who was dismissed from the North Charleston Police Department after the shooting, offered a different view from what state prosecutors argue was captured by the bystander's footage of the incident.
Prosecutors contend Slager did not appear to be in danger when he hit Scott with five shots. They said Scott fled because he was behind on child support payments and feared arrest.
Under cross-examination, a prosecutor accused Slager of changing his story at times. Slager acknowledged that some things clear on the video were not known to him as the incident unfolded.
"My mind was like spaghetti," he said, noting he was tired after running and fighting Scott on the ground.
Testimony began early this month before a jury of 11 whites and one black. Slager faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted.
Slager said that looking back, with facts he since has learned, he would not have left his patrol vehicle to chase Scott.
"Things could have been different," he said.
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mistrial is at least better than acquittal...
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related commentary:
How Jeff Sessions will enable more Michael SlagersFirst, were it not for a citizen-shot video, Slager almost certainly would never have been charged. His initial report claimed that he shot Scott because Scott was holding Slager’s Taser. The video shows that not only was this not true, it shows Slager dropping the Taser near Scott after shooting him.
Were it not for the video, Slager’s word would have been golden. The shooting would have been investigated by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), and it’s a pretty good bet that without the video, that agency would have cleared him of any wrongdoing. As I reported in a series here last year, SLED has a history of glossing over police shootings. One investigator admitted in a deposition that he doesn’t read forensics reports in police shootings. In one particularly disturbing case, SLED didn’t bother to ask the police officers who shot Laurie Jean Ellis why they claimed to have heard a gunshot and saw smoke coming from a gun that turned out to be a BB gun. When asked why he didn’t follow up, and ask the officers to explain the discrepancy, a SLED supervisor answered, “Because they’re police officers and I believe what they’re telling me.” In another case, SLED investigators didn’t bother to explain why body-camera footage of a fatal police raid on a man suspected of misdemeanor gambling completely contradicted police reports. In still another, SLED cleared officers who shot and seriously injured a man during a ? raid, despite security video showing that they clearly didn’t knock and announce, as they had claimed. The Justice Department statement about Slager praises SLED, and gives its chief, Mark Keel, a platform to make his own comments about the investigation. -
I wonder why he did it
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