It was a bad shoot. He called this self-defense.
DM- A white former South Carolina officer was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday for fatally shooting an unarmed black motorist in the back in 2015, wrapping up a case that became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Attorneys for ex-North Charleston Officer Michael Slager said he shot 50-year-old Walter Scott in self-defense after the two fought and Scott grabbed Slager’s stun gun. They said race didn’t play a role in the shooting and Slager never had any ‘racial animus’ toward minorities.
Still, Slager pleaded guilty in federal court to violating Scott’s civil rights. As part of the plea agreement reached in May, prosecutors dropped state murder charges. A year ago, a state judge declared a mistrial when jurors deadlocked in that case.
‘This is a tragedy that shouldn’t have happened,’ U.S. District Judge David Norton said.
Straight up murder. A bad apple.
As much as I support our LEO’s, no argument with this.
Hey, maybe the perp was running to get his gun. Probably an “assault rifle”. It was a pre-emptive shooting.
POORLY TRAINED POLICE
◾ We don’t need COMMUNITY COLLEGE GRADUATES roaming our streets with guns, and very little legal training.
◾Need legal training
◾Need 4 years of college + legal training
◾Need Constitutional training in 4 years of college
◾Need FBI-Style CSI training in that 4 year college
◾Need to demonstrate physical AND mental fitness every year
◾Need to be on probation for 1 year
◾Need to be “put out to pasture” after 10 years. Special cops remain, the rest are replaced
◾Need PTSD check-up every year
◾Need remedial training every year
◾Need to retain part of the paycheck to pay out misconduct cases if ever they arise, otherwise, refunded at the end of their tenure
◾Police the communities they live in
◾Re-training for minor violations, otherwise a strike system
◾Fired for lying in court, filing false reports
◾Fired for not reporting misconduct
◾Higher pay for higher quality of officers with no violations
◾Military service preferable
◾Police academy: 6 months (part of 4 year degree system)
◾Criminology training
◾Minimum 4 year degree, or obtaining one. No high school or GED graduates
WE DON’T HAVE ANYWHERE NEAR A PROFESSIONAL POLICE FORCE.
(obviously)
The runner’s palm must have been blinking Red, he should have renewed on Carousel instead.
Zig zag man. Zig zag.
minimum age 30. College ed not necessary as the largest number will come out liberalized. Must be able to pass a standardized test as health pros do.
If we had a more professional police force, they would need to be supported in greater fashion. The antagonism, vitriol, and crap they have to put up with, including a legal system that turns criminals back out into the jungle rather than locking them away, are enough to make anyone snap.
I disagree that you need 4 year college to be a police officers maybe a bit of common sense but why would you need a bunch of worthless liberal schooling?
And this guy deserves this and probably more bad shoot bad cop bad person
There is a scene in “It’s a Wonderful Life” where George Bailey punches the cop (Bert or Ernie) and runs away. The cop stands up and shoots at a fleeing, unarmed suspect. Cops used to yell, “STOP! or I’ll SHOOT!” and most suspected stopped. Now that cops can’t shoot at fleeing suspects, the get away.
Han shot first, and was justified in doing so.
geeknerd
California, and I suspect most states, have a Penal code that states a CCW can shoot a person fleeing the scene of a felony crime. Now there’s a lot of rope there, and nobody in their right mind would do it.
There is a charge for running away. It’s called Evading Arrest.
The penalty for it is not death.
I remember seeing this video the day it happened. It was obvious back then. Total fuck-up by a douchebag cop.
No sympathy for a felon who had just attacked the cop by tasering him with his own taser because the cop was trying to arrest him. Another criminal bites the dust. One who thought he could get away with crime because he is black, by resisting and fighting the cop, then running away to hide. Must remember, a felon on the run will kill anyone. A skewed clip from the whole event does not present all the details.
When you live in the cage with the zoo animals long enough, you begin to think and react on their level. Slager had probably been spit upon and beaten one too many times and went psycho. He became the street animal.
College? You see what goes on in college and want somebody with a degree to be a cop?
I say only if Military service is included.
This was a bad cop. My cop buddy gets incensed talking about cops like this.
Real cops hate these guys
Except he wasn’t a felon was he? Just a guy fucked over by his ex-wife for child support.
Every time he got a job, he would get a court date that caused him to miss work. Hard to get to court when you don’t have a car. Hard to pay court fines when you don’t have a job.
So he was out test driving a used car and got pulled for a license plate didn’t he?
Keep getting warrants put out on you when you miss court and can’t pay fines and child support. Keep losing jobs when you have to bum rides and keep getting called to court on short notice.
Guess the kid ain’t getting child support ever now.
Bad apples like this need to be put away pronto.
I was told I was a cop hater when this happened because I didn’t join in with those on our side who defended the cop.
Right is just as bad as the left at not being able to see something without bias.
Finally had a chance to sit down and seriously watch that heart breaking video. That so called cop missed right 5 out of ten, including the first four. AT POINT BLANK. Very sad.
Looks to me like both sides made mistakes. Both sides have a tragic story to tell. One thing I don’t know is, why is the guy running from the cop? I guarantee you, every time a cop told me to stop, I stopped.
Up it to 30.
The cell phone video only showed a partial picture of what happened, leaving out the important parts.
Walter Scott ran during what started as a routine traffic stop (brake light).
Slager gave chase and Scott eventually turned on Slager and began hand to hand combat. Slager pulled his taser but it did not have an affect on Scott.
Scott wrested the taser from Slager, Scott now became armed. Even without the taser he still posed a clear and present danger to the officer (turning to physically engage during a pursuit). Scott was the aggressor, not Slager.
Trying to incapacitate the officer and take his side-arm then clearly showed that Scott was a deadly threat.
In that state the rules for engagement allow the officer to use deadly force even if the suspect is fleeing, if the officer is reasonably and sufficiently fearful that the suspect may continue to pose a threat to either the officer or anyone else.
Scott was running towards a high residential area, therefore a potential threat to the residents there.
If you look at the cell phone video carefully you can see that the taser is being pulled along behind Scott, this is because Scott had physically engaged Slager and became entangled in the wires.
Remember, the traffic stop and Scott taking flight on foot. This vacant lot is not close to the starting point. The officer was tired from running and then assaulted by the assailant.
No longer able to pursue the suspect and believing him to be a continued threat provided Slager with what he thought was justifiable defense of himself and others.
I will repeat since it is worth repeating, Scott was the instigator of the entire issue. Scott initiated the flight, the fight, and the plight.
The state did not find him guilty (hung jury) and therefore the Obama administration (Loretta Lynch) then filed federal charges.
Think about that one good and hard.
I contend that Slager is the victim in this situation and that justice has not been served.