A white North Charleston police officer was arrested and charged with murder on Tuesday. After this video footage showed him opening fire on a fleeing unarmed black man shooting him in the back. The man murdered name was 50 year-old Micheal L. Scott , a father of four and Coastguard veteran. The officer’s name is 33 year-old Micheal T. Slager, who fired eight times with five bullets striking Scott, four in the back and one in the ear according to the family attorney.
Micheal Scott was stopped for a traffic violation and Slager said he ‘feared for his life’ because he lost his stun gun in a scuffle. In the video the stun gun is dropped at the officer’s foot and Scott begins to run away. Without an attempt to chase the 50 year-old man down, Slager opens fires with lethal force and then proceeds to yell, “Place your hands behind your back” with no response from Scott who died at the scene. Once Scott is down, Slager goes back to the spot of the tussle and appears to pick up the stun gun and dropping it by the lifeless body. Thus the planting of evidence is captured on video as well. It is also shown that no one immediately attempts CPR, conflicting police reports that they did everything they could to try to save his life.
The bystander who filmed the incident chooses to remain anonymous. The video recorder is a true hero as he possibly risked his life as well. This should be an example to all citizens, who may witness an injustice to not tolerate it and make reports and gather what powerful evidence that they can. Had this person not turned in this video, what would the narrative of this case be? Would it even be a news story? Thankfully, those are questions that we do not need to ask ourselves due to this one person’s true actions of courage.
North Charleston is South Carolina’s third-largest city, with African-Americans accounting for roughly 47 percent of residents, while whites account for around 37 percent. Yet, the Police Department is about 80 percent white, according to information gathered by the Justice Department in 2007 which is the most recent data available.
Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley made a statement in regards to the case.
“is not acceptable in South Carolina, nor is it reflective of our values or of the way most of our law enforcement officials acts, and I assure all South Carolinians that the criminal judicial process will proceed fully.”
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is leading the investigation and the Department of Justice has announced the FBI will further investigate the incident and provide any assistance needed in the state’s probe. If convicted, Slater faces the death penalty or the minimum 30 years in prison.
As of Tuesday, Slager’s attorney no longer represents him. The attorney is making a smart move as Slager’s actions on that Saturday morning are reprehensible and no one should be standing alongside him with any good sense.
Police officers are held to a higher standard because they are sworn to serve and protect the public, not masquerade as cowardly murderers as shown in this case. There is a higher level of confidence that justice will be served, thanks in large part to the person who was courageous enough to record the cop’s murderous act.
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