South Carolina Officer Is Charged With Murder in Black Man’s Death

Town Heretic

Out of Order
Hall of Fame
Here's the first somewhat clear frame from the vid.
They are either holding hands or wrestling for the taser.
The Officer is reaching for his handgun with his other hand.
Okay. And if he shoots the fellow then it's understandable. But that's not when he shot the fellow.
 

Arthur Brain

Well-known member
The video only shows what the Obama owned media and you liberals want to see.

On that note: Let's look at the big picture here.

You really should see what it's like to live in a city that has been subjected to federal decree oversight.

Anarchy is a good word for it, as the police are powerless and the criminal element are empowered.

And TOL's very own 'Officer Dibble' tries to wave away evidence that shows a guy being shot multiple times in the back. Are you still pretending you were ever actually a cop? Or did Morpheus have your number where you were one who was corrupt and sacked? You never did give a straight answer on that.
 

rocketman

Resident Rocket Surgeon
Hall of Fame
So what you're saying is the only evidence that will be allowed at trial is the video footage?

The video is damning enough aCW, the officer disregarded all his training to shot an unarmed suspect that is disengaging/fleeing/retreating. The man was not armed so, he did not pose a threat to the officer or others while in retreat. Poor decision making and more than likely some anger & hurt pride caused this officer to lose his cool and shoot an unarmed man 5 times in the back...not good for him, the victim, or police officers at large. I personally after seeing the footage, and reading the accounts cannot defend this officer's play...he screwed up.
 
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fool

Well-known member
Hall of Fame
Okay. And if he shoots the fellow then it's understandable. But that's not when he shot the fellow.

I'm forming the opinion that he thought the fellow had his taser as he ran away.
Two black objects appear on the ground as they break contact, one in front and one behind the officer. But obviously the officer is focused on the fellow.
He shoots the fellow, strolls towards him as he reports shots fired and he took my taser, then he cuffs the guy, then looks back and sees the taser all the way back where the tussle happened.

He then realizes he screwed up big time because the guy didn't have his taser it was on the ground way back there. He runs to get it so he can plant it near the body and his coworker shows up and it's too late, he tries to drop it anyway but he does it in front of the other officer.

Two points, if he KNEW that the fellow didn't have the taser and it was on the ground at his shooting station he would have collected it and taken it over there when he approached instead of racing around to move it later.
Also, he KNEW that throwing it down would work because it had the fellows prints on it because they struggled over it.

So, the shoot might be good, and then he soiled it by trying to move the ball from "I thought he had my Taser" to "He had my Taser".

We can still obviously have the debate on what piece of equipment in someone elses hands warrants deadly force and that why I started the other thread.
 

patrick jane

BANNED
Banned
i realize the tragedy and the unlawful use of force in this particular case. let's put things in perspective, i assume the officer didn't wake up planning to shoot his weapon or kill, even during the interaction leading up to, there was no thought of shooting the man. the officer is wrong, he clocked in and never went home. the man that died made a decision to struggle, resist arrest, reach for ANYTHING - and flee. obviously he should not be shot as the officer feels that he has his gun still, looks at the ground, looks up again: this is the moment he decided to shoot repeatedly. my point for anyone, follow the instructions of law enforcement and this never happens - :patrol:
 

Quincy

New member
I saw the dash cam video of the man getting pulled over. I don't necessarily think the cop was being too aggressive at first anymore, but he did seem to press the issue of why the man was driving that particular car through proxy of asking for insurance. Turns out the man recently bought the car and hadn't transferred ownership yet, but the cop had him so scared he couldn't explain it right. I still find the man getting pulled to be suspicious, though.

The guy shouldn't have ran like that, I can understand using the taser, I suppose. I didn't see anything to change my mind about the shots. That was still clearly an execution.
 
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PureX

Well-known member
The whole taser argument is irrelevant. So is the struggle beforehand. Police can't shoot people in the back as they are running away (even with a taser in their hand).
 

Granite

New member
Hall of Fame
The dashboard cam puts a lie to the initial report (surprise!) that there was a "struggle." There was none. So, chalk that up to yet another lie from the cops.

Really, really makes you wonder how often they lied when they trotted out the same script time and again: There was an altercation; I was afraid for my life; I killed the guy.

What a crock.
 

fool

Well-known member
Hall of Fame
The dashboard cam puts a lie to the initial report (surprise!) that there was a "struggle." There was none. So, chalk that up to yet another lie from the cops.
Both witnesses say there was a struggle and the screen shot three posts above yours shows it.
Really, really makes you wonder how often they lied when they trotted out the same script time and again: There was an altercation; I was afraid for my life; I killed the guy.

What a crock.
They're coached on what to say so no surprise there, this sort of thing will continue until we have cameras on every officer.
 

Granite

New member
Hall of Fame
Both witnesses say there was a struggle and the screen shot three posts above yours shows it.

The guy who shot the video disputes a struggle. And the idea of a "struggle" makes zero sense. What kind of a guy starts running from the cops, stops in his tracks to fight an armed officer or try to grab his Taser, then starts running again? What kind of black guy would be that suicidal, for that matter?
 

Town Heretic

Out of Order
Hall of Fame
Sure they can.
They can, but may they? And the answer is, yes with qualification.

The S.Ct. has held:

"The use of deadly force to prevent the escape of all felony suspects, whatever the circumstances, is constitutionally unreasonable. It is not better that all felony suspects die than that they escape. Where the suspect poses no immediate threat to the officer and no threat to others, the harm resulting from failing to apprehend him does not justify the use of deadly force to do so. It is no doubt unfortunate when a suspect who is in sight escapes, but the fact that the police arrive a little late or are a little slower afoot does not always justify killing the suspect. A police officer may not seize an unarmed, nondangerous suspect by shooting him dead." Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985)

There is some latitude in the reading of the current facts. Did the officer believe the man was armed and presented an immediate threat to others? Was either belief reasonable given the circumstances?
 
They can, but may they? And the answer is, yes with qualification.

The S.Ct. has held:
"The use of deadly force to prevent the escape of all felony suspects, whatever the circumstances, is constitutionally unreasonable. It is not better that all felony suspects die than that they escape. Where the suspect poses no immediate threat to the officer and no threat to others, the harm resulting from failing to apprehend him does not justify the use of deadly force to do so. It is no doubt unfortunate when a suspect who is in sight escapes, but the fact that the police arrive a little late or are a little slower afoot does not always justify killing the suspect. A police officer may not seize an unarmed, nondangerous suspect by shooting him dead." Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985)
There is some latitude in the reading of the current facts. Did the officer believe the man was armed and presented an immediate threat to others? Was either belief reasonable given the circumstances?
Why would an unarmed innocent man run? I'm on the side of the victim here but I find that curious.
 

PureX

Well-known member
Why would an unarmed innocent man run? I'm on the side of the victim here but I find that curious.
Our justice system can be horribly unjust to people who are poor, minority, and without clout. There could be all sorts of reasons why someone would run from a traffic stop.
 

Delmar

Patron Saint of SMACK
LIFETIME MEMBER
Hall of Fame
What does this say about all the other shootings of unarmed black men where the police also claimed that they feared for their lives and there was no video evidence to contradict their stories.

It does not say a thing about any case but this one. This cop committed murder. If other officers commit crimes they too should be prosecuted. :idunno:
 

PureX

Well-known member
It does not say a thing about any case but this one. This cop committed murder. If other officers commit crimes they too should be prosecuted. :idunno:
But it does say something that it happens at all. And that is that we need better oversight of the police. Now that these cameras are so small and inexpensive, I think it's time to deploy them in policing. It would protect the good cops and convict the bad ones. These cameras could do for the police force what DNA testing does for criminals.
 
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The Barbarian

BANNED
Banned
These cameras could do for the police force what DNA testing does for criminal.

Nicely put. In the vast majority of cases, it would clear the police of wrongdoing, just as in the vast majority of cases, DNA analysis shows evidence of guilt, not innocence.

Only the criminals have reason to resist either of these things. And they do.
 

resodko

BANNED
Banned
It does not say a thing about any case but this one. This cop committed murder.



maybe

maybe not

something transpired between walter scott getting pulled over and walter scott knocking the taser out of michael slager's hand behind the pawn shop

and note that the pertinent part of the video starts with slager reaching for his sidearm

is it reasonable to expect an officer to stop an action already started just because the suspect is fleeing?


in other words, if slager and scott had a physical altercation before - between the car being pulled over and the back of the pawn shop, that would have prompted slager to pull the taser and shoot scott, and then had a second physical altercation, which we see, in which scott disarms (knocks the taser from slager's hand), it is reasonable, imo, for slager to pull his sidearm with the intention of using it

is it reasonable, in that situation, for him to then say, internally, "oh wait - he's not fighting me anymore, he's running - i better not shoot"??? :freak:
 
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