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

[resodko]

The guy who shot the video disputes a struggle.

and yet his video clearly shows scott knocking the taser from slager's hand

 

[Delmar]

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:

The guy is unarmed and running away. Shooting him in the back is criminal!

 

[Delmar]

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.

OK

 

[PureX]

OK

I also think there is a lesson to be learned here regarding our habit of automatically assuming that the black man deserved it, somehow, before we know what really happened. And even in the face of this video!

I can think of only one reason that so many of us assume this, and that reason is bigotry based on race and economics. And if so many of us are bigoted in that way, doesn't it stand to reason that so are many of the cops?

This was only one instance, that's true, but it still tells us a lot about these instances, generally, by the way we've reacted to it.

 

[The Barbarian]

The way we react to these things are always a little test of our attitudes. There are those who will automatically make assumptions, those who judge on the evidence in front of them, and those who wonder what else might be in evidence.

It is hard to see how this could be anything but murder. But the lawyer for the officer will have the opportunity to show that there were extenuating circumstances, if he can.

 

[Delmar]

I also think there is a lesson to be learned here regarding our habit of automatically assuming that the black man deserved it, somehow, before we know what really happened. And even in the face of this video!

This is right up there with assuming the police officer used leathal force because he is hates blacks. It's not good but people do jump to conclussions.

I can think of only one reason that so many of us assume this, and that reason is bigotry based on race and economics. And if so many of us are bigoted in that way, doesn't it stand to reason that so are many of the cops?

This was only one instance, that's true, but it still tells us a lot about these instances, generally, by the way we've reacted to it.

 

[oatmeal]

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.

Nothing

Get real.

How about all the videos that don't show you molesting children?

Is the lack of videos proof that you molest children?

Is that what you call evidence?

 

[oatmeal]

[South Carolina Officer Is Charged With Murder in Black Man’s Death Washington] "A white police officer in North Charleston, S.C., was charged with murder on Tuesday after a video surfaced showing him shooting in the back and killing an apparently unarmed black man while the man ran away.

The officer, Michael T. Slager, 33, said he had feared for his life because the man had taken his stun gun in a scuffle after a traffic stop on Saturday. A video, however, shows the officer firing eight times as the man, Walter L. Scott, 50, fled. The North Charleston mayor announced the state charges at a news conference Tuesday evening.

The shooting came on the heels of high-profile instances of police officers’ using lethal force in New York, Cleveland, Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere around the country. The deaths have set off a national debate over whether the police are too quick to use force, particularly in cases involving black men.

A White House task force has recommended a host of changes to the nation’s police policies, and President Obama sent Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to cities around the country to try to improve police relations with minority neighborhoods..." Full text: South Carolina Officer Is Charged With Murder in Black Man’s Death

If a jury finds the man guilty fine.

For now I presume him to be innocent until found guilty by a court of law.

 

[PureX]

This is right up there with assuming the police officer used leathal force because he is hates blacks. It's not good but people do jump to conclussions.

Excellent point!

Check out this video …

 

[resodko]

The guy is unarmed and running away. Shooting him in the back is criminal!

1. police car dashcam shows: scott gets pulled over and the interchange between scott and slager is polite
2. police car dashcam shows: scott gets out of car and runs off screen, sounds of slager pursuing on foot

not recorded: scott and slager end up behind pawn shop, slager holding taser, leads going to scott

...

3. bystanders video shows 0:18: scott disarms slager (takes taser from his hand)
4. at the same time slager begins to draw sidearm, scott begins to run, slager raises sidearm
5. at 0:19/0:20 (less than two seconds after being disarmed and starting to draw his sidearm), slager begins firing at fleeing scott




now, imagine that you are in slager's shoes - you've got a perp who is willing to run and willing to fight

in those 1.8 seconds, what do you do?

do you draw your sidearm or not?

Spoiler

a. of course i draw my gun - that's why they make us carry the darn things
b. no way - guns scare me

if you draw your sidearm, do you intend to use it or not?

Spoiler

a. duh
b. nope - i wuz planning to wave it around in the air and yell "stop" some more

if you intend to use it, what do you intend to do with it?

Spoiler

a. gonna shoot for center mass, just like i was trained
b. thought i'd fire it in the air while yelling, like keanu reeves in point break

 

[resodko]

I also think there is a lesson to be learned here regarding our habit of automatically assuming that the black man deserved it, somehow...

ok, what should slager have done when scott had run and then disarmed him of his non-lethal weapon and then run again?

let scott go?

chase scott some more and see if he can take slager's sidearm?

 

[musterion]

ok, what should the slager have done when scott had run and then disarmed him of his non-lethal weapon?

let scott go?

chase scott some more and see if he can take slager's sidearm?

Stop asking young master Purex to think in grayscale. He needs this topic to remain black and white.

 

[resodko]

Does any one here have any doubt that if there weren't a video, we'd be listening to how the dangerous thug deserved what he got and the officer feared for his life?

How many folks here will admit to themselves that's exactly what they'd be saying?

No doubt at all that's what we'd be hearing. And we'd be hearing how anyone who disagreed with them was "racist."

Now this guy was in the wrong and broke the law but where I come from resisting arrest and assault of a police officer carries a sentence of 6 months and the right to trial.

Not death and summary execution without trial.

It doesn't matter . What was shown is an unarmed guy getting gunned down while running away UNARMED.

The cop's a murderer, plain and simple. Break him on a wheel.

A man was shot in the back in cold blood...

What could have possibly occurred that would justify shooting an unarmed man in the back as he ran away in this video? How can you say the officer was afraid for his life in this video?

He was shot. 8 times. In the back. While running away.

Have you even the remotest idea of just how gormless you sound here? Why do you suppose this officer felt the need to tamper with the evidence and place it near the suspect in the bloody first place?! Aesthetic reasons?

:doh:

Race aside, should the officer have shot this man in the back 8 times?

ok - all you guys, how do you respond to the question purex can't answer?

ok, what should slager have done when scott had run and then disarmed him of his non-lethal weapon and then run again?

let scott go?

chase scott some more and see if he can take slager's sidearm?

 

[resodko]

I have an idea on how to improve minority relations with police. Let them stop committing so much crime. :idunno:

seems obvious to me :idunno:

And if the cop had missed the guy would still be alive. And if he decided not to draw at all the guy would still be alive.

if scott had not had four children he didn't want to support, he'd still be alive

if scott had supported his four children, he'd still be alive

if scott had accepted the fact that he was supposed to support his four children and accepted the consequences of not supporting them, he'd still be alive

Cops don't seem to chase people anymore?

he'd already chased him and caught him

do you think he should have let him go so they could have the fun of chasing each other all over again?

let me give you some advice - when the cops chase you and catch you, stop struggling - they are not going to say "oh, this one really wants to get away - i should let him"

 

[shagster01]

ok - all you guys, how do you respond to the question purex can't answer?

I'd like to hear your answer? Gun him down from behind?

Here is how I answer...

How do we trust he did take the taser? The officer lied about giving cpr and he tampered with evidence. If he was in the right, why lie about that stuff? It only makes his story unreliable and the only thing then to go off of is the video and the one witness who said there was no struggle. The officer put himself in this position by lying.

Should police shoot every unarmed man that tries to run? It's fight or flight and every video available only shows flight from the victim and fight from the cop.

 

[resodko]

Of course I do. You've worn your puerile racism on your sleeve for as long as I can recall as well as misogyny. The fact that you call black people a "minority race" only serves to underline that.

trad is racist because he calls a minority race a minority race? :freak:


dude, you have got to stop posting drunk :nono:

 

[resodko]

I'd like to hear your answer? Gun him down from behind?

Here is how I answer...

How do we trust he did take the taser? The officer lied about giving cpr and he tampered with evidence. If he was in the right, why lie about that stuff? It only makes his story unreliable and the only thing then to go off of is the video and the one witness who said there was no struggle. The officer put himself in this position by lying.

Should police shoot every unarmed man that tries to run? It's fight or flight and every video available only shows flight from the victim and fight from the cop.

the pertinent part of the bystander's video begins at 0:18 (blurry) with scott knocking the taser from slager's hand

at the same time, slager is reaching for his sidearm

slager's already chased and caught scott and deployed his non-lethal weapon

it has failed to stop scott

scott has disarmed slager of his non-lethal weapon

i'm pretty sure that slager's training in this situation is to draw and fire his service weapon

and you can see it - as the taser drops from slager's hand, he is reaching back for his glock

he's made the decision to fire it then at 0:18

he fires at 0:19 and change - less than two seconds from reaching for it

and less than two seconds from having scott take the taser from his (slager's) hand

...

so yes, i would follow my training and fire, regardless of what the perp had chosen to do in that second and a half

unless he flung himself on the ground with his hands over his head


or started doing pirouettes and singing carmen


instead, i recognize that i'm dealing with a guy full of adrenaline, in flight or fight mode who has chosen to do both so far

 

[resodko]

He was shot. 8 times. In the back. While running away.

just to clarify, he was shot at 8 times

one hit his buttock
one hit his ear
three hit his back - one of those went through his heart

 

[The Barbarian]

The fact that the police so quickly arrested and charged this officer after viewing the complete video, is remarkable. Unless this guy was a known problem, for whom the department was trying to find a way to rid themselves of him, that's highly unusual.

Usually, a department is very reluctant to admit fault on the part of an officer. Which be a reasonable response. But the difference here, is striking, and seems to be driven by the evidence.

 

[resodko]

Should police shoot every unarmed man that tries to run?

you think the cops assume that every agressive perp is unarmed? :freak:

It's fight or flight and every video available only shows flight from the victim and fight from the cop.

no, there's plenty of videos showing fight from the perps - it usually ends badly for them

very badly


:freak: and do you really expect to find videos of cops fleeing from perps?