Anyone who watches the video of Walter Scott being shot seven times by Officer Michael Slager last Saturday who can't see the egregiousness of it all needs to take some time to reevaluate his or her sense of right versus wrong. The criminal behavior of Officer Slager is incontrovertible and once again resurrects the ghosts of Trayvon Martin, Ferguson, Missouri and Staten Island. Only this time, thanks to this terrible video footage, there might actually be justice.
On Wednesday, The New York Times published a pair of amateur videos taken at a grassy lot in North Charleston, SC, showing the shooting of Walter Scott in nightmarish clarity. In it, we see Scott several feet from Slager, flailing for a brief second due to the impact of Slager's Taser. Scott turned and ran away and then, after a beat, Slager unholstered his sidearm and fired eight times -- seven times in quick succession, then a final eighth shot a second later. Reportedly, all but one shot hit Scott.
As the rounds struck Scott from behind, he ran a few more steps then fell face-down in the grass. Slager walked over to Scott who's motionless, presumably dead, while speaking into his radio, "Shots fired and the subject is down. He took my Taser." Once he's upon Scott's body, he shouted several times, "Put your hands behind your back!" Scott wasn't moving, so Slager grabbed Scott's limp arms and handcuffed them together.
Scott walked back to the location of the Tasering, and picked up something off the ground. At that point, another officer arrived at the scene. While the other officer examined Scott, Slager dropped a object -- probably the stun gun -- next to Scott's body.
How did it get to this?... CONTINUE READING