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.
Officer Michael Slager was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/emotional-testimony-expected-ex-officers-sentencing-ends-092953960.html
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — 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.
A bystander recorded the shooting on a cellphone, and it was shared around the world, setting off protests across the U.S. as demonstrators said it was another egregious example of police officers mistreating African-Americans.
Slager fired at Scott’s back from 17 feet (5 meters) away. Five of eight bullets hit him.
The video was seized on by many as vivid proof of what they had been arguing for years: that white officers too often use deadly force unnecessarily against black people.
When the jury failed to reach a verdict in the state murder case, many black people and others were shocked and distressed, because the video seemed to some to be an open-and-shut case. Some despaired of ever seeing justice.
Scott’s family testified before the sentence was handed down and said they had forgiven Slager.
“I’m not angry at you, Michael. Michael, I forgive you, and Michael, I do pray for you now and for your family, because we’ve gone through a traumatic time,” said Scott’s brother Anthony.
The shooting angered local African-Americans who complained for years that North Charleston police harassed blacks, pulling them over or questioning them unnecessarily as they cracked down on crime. But after the shooting, the Scott family successfully pleaded for calm, asking everyone to let the justice system run its course.
Two months after the shooting, a young white man killed nine black church members in a racially motivated attacked during a Bible study in Charleston. The family members of those victims struck a similar forgiveness tone after that attack.
Before the sentence was handed down, the judge had to decide whether the shooting amounted to second-degree murder or manslaughter. Norton found that it was murder.
“No matter what sentence I give, neither the Scott family nor the Slager family is going to think that it’s right,” the judge said.
After the shooting, Slager picked up his stun gun and placed it next to Scott. Slager contends he was securing the weapon. Prosecutors think he put it there to bolster his self-defense story.
An emotional Slager told the Scott family that he was grateful for their forgiveness.
“This tragic event that occurred in seconds has changed the lives of everyone involved,” he said. “With my actions that day, Walter Scott is no longer with his family, and I am responsible for that.”
The judge also found that Slager, 36, obstructed justice when he made statements to state police after the shooting.
A pre-sentencing report for Slager found that he committed manslaughter and recommended 10 to nearly 13 years in prison. But the judge was not bound by that review.
If Slager had faced another state trial and been convicted of murder, he could have been sentenced to anywhere from 30 years to life in prison.
Convictions in police officer shootings are uncommon in the U.S. and prison time is even rarer.
South Carolina has been aggressive in charging white officers who shoot unarmed black people. Four have pleaded guilty in state or federal court in the past six years. But only Slager and former state trooper Sean Groubert, who shot a man as he tried to get his wallet during a seat belt violation check, will have been sent to prison. Groubert was sentenced to five years behind bars.
Tragic
Right or wrong?
I think he messed up when he said: “Looked like that nigger needed shooting”.
Stunning…….
Right or wrong?
Where is Justice?
Right or wrong?
Wrong. Totally wrong. He just got fed to the fish in the name of PC. Total bullshit.
If the officer himself felt he was in the right, he would not have placed the stun gun next to the victim. That tells me he had his own doubts. and it makes him look guilty, whether he was or not.
The fact that he shot the man in the back made things even worse. Never shoot anyone in the back! Even the local police tell you not to shoot someone in the back if you shoot a home intruder. That makes it look like the person was moving away from you and was no longer a threat.
This offers yet another reason for segregation. If black and whites occupy separate territories, each group can police themselves. We can all revert to our natural state. For whites, we’ll see Mayberry. For blacks, we’ll see Africa.
To me, it sounds like the judge over-sentenced. It wouldn’t be surprising to learn he/she supports BLM, which is both anti-white and anti-cop.
GXG, I do believe the officer was over-sentenced as well.
That pig should fry. The black guy was behind on child support and thought there was a warrant out for his arrest, that’s why he bolted.
Had the bastard paid his child support, he would not have had a warrant, real or imagined, and therefore would not have ‘bolted’. Rather anyone can admit this or not, the cop was right and justified in the shooting. A black cop would have been just as justified had the ‘bolter’ been white. Rather shot in the back, the face, or gut shot and left to bleed out, is not the point, the point is he did not obey orders from a uniformed Police Officer and that always justifies deadly force. A criminal in the cemetery, regardless of the severity of the crime, is less counterproductive to the taxpayers than a criminal in the court systems. Good riddance Mr. ‘Bolter’, and thanks for saving me and other taxpayers the expense of feeding, clothing, and housing you. thanks
Are you a total fucking moron? Child support obligations are a result of a court order at a specific time. Things can change, such as employment status but the court order does not. Wtf? Why are people so fucking stupid and lacking in empathy? What you need to do is get a decent job, marry, punch out a few kids, get divorced and then lose your job. I would enjoy laughing at your credit score as you languish in jail, assuming some pig didn’t gat your ass because you ran after getting pulled over for a broken tail light.
Oh, you should also know that your ex is still fucking your old neighbor. haha. All your base are belong to us.
You can petition the Court to change your child support obligations if your financial condition changes to make it impossible to meet them.
The mother can also petition for an increase in child support if your position changes for the better and you are able to pay more under whatever standard the jurisdiction originally used to determine it.
Divorce and illegitimate children are such a wonderful thing to deal with.
the guy didn’t disobey orders from the cop. He fought him and shot him with his own stun gun. Like they always say in these cases, a series of bad decisions can get you killed. And did. Run from a cop see where it gets you. Fight a cop, see where it gets you
Yes, stunning…
If the cop is seen ON VIDEO tampering with the scene/evidence, what makes you think you can trust anything he says?
Having said that, no, of course he shouldn’t have run or fought with the cop. But shooting him in the back? Sure doesn’t seem right to me.
Bad interpretation, WIP. I do want to say this. Mr. Scott didn’t deserve to die. But he did, because of his own actions. What’s the saying, play stupid games, Win stupid prizes. Sending that cop to jail for 20 years is a travesty
Cops don’t lie? You must be one of the kings horses.
Decide for yourself
I had forgotten what was in the video. After watching that again, I agree he was guilty, but of manslaughter, not murder. These are split-second decisions and the adrenaline is pumping. That officer was apparently unable to restrain himself in the heat of the moment.
Let’s see if I understand this. He shot at the back of a guy 17 feet away and he calls it “self-defense?” Yer shittin’ me, right?
That’s not self-defense, that’s execution. And the first jury couldn’t figure that out? WTF kinda retards were on that jury?
Fuckin A Bubba. He draws his gun, WAITS for Scott to run three full steps before pulling the trigger. Adrenaline? Heat of the moment? He feared for his life? From a guy running fairly slowly away in a dead panic? Are you fucking kidding me?
The lickspittle “officers’ standards” double-standards bearers kind. The judges instructions follower kind. The void dire sieved peer kind. The massman moojority kind.
Turkey shoot.
Prolly steroids…
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/12/hundreds_of_nj_police_firefigh.html
Steeroids. The thick Belgian Blue Line.
Wrong,both because of the conviction/imprisonment,and because this was a Federal conviction.
The Feds had no biz being involved here.
The Fed’s purpose was the politics of it.
Sort of common in high profile cases that generate public disruptions.
Murder. But, you dont run from cops unless you want to get shot. Thus a hung jury.
Fuckin-A Bubba. Running from an armed, ‘roided-out, State-empowered thug with a massive inferiority complex is stupid beyond the pale. That doesn’t make any of this right.
How Two wrongs. The cop was over sentenced, compared to a wetback.
This seems like a fair outcome. Slager and Scott had battled for about a minute and a half, as I recall. That was after a 30 second chase that covered a couple of blocks. Scott did appear to have wrested Slager’s taser away from him, but he dropped it when he turned to run. Slager didn’t commit premeditated murder. It was manslaughter. It must be hard to switch in a second’s time from fighting for your life to having to restrain from shooting your erstwhile enemy, but that’s part of a police officer’s job.
I agree with manslaughter, not the murder charge.
I’ve been in lots of fights. Only once, possibly, for my life. Look at a cop wrong, he’s killing you, out of fear for his life. Not always. But plenty. & it only takes once.
I knew an old guy, in North Charleston. A much younger guy advanced on him, making threats – despite the rifle in the old man’s hands. Old man shot him dead. Got 2 years, something like that, for manslaughter.
Self-defense is manslaughter, all too often, for the mundanes. Murder, if anything comes of it at all, is manslaughter for the cops.
& the peanut galley applauds. Charlie Brown & Belgian Blue Lucys co-create each other, deserve each other.
WRONG.
Cops are taught this in the Academy and in use-of-force LEO firearms classes.
Full decision here: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/471/1.html
TENNESSEE v. GARNER, (1985)
“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”.
Never spoil a good legal debate with the facts.
I’ll be watching the Chicago trial of Jason Van Dyke who shot 17 year old Laquan MacDonald. That’s the case where the video was hidden for a year in order to ensure Rahm Emmanuel’s reelection. Unlike Michael Slager, Van Dyke wasn’t all hopped up from a minute-plus physical battle. He was just standing there waiting for the kid (who had led cops on a long car chase) to walk by, whereupon he fired over ten shots into MacDonald – including several after MacDonald was lying motionless on the street.
He was running away. I don’t see any danger for the cop. Looks like a bad shoot to me.
Thus the 20 years.
Who the Hell cares
One less damn leech on the welfare…..
I wonder if they took him to Dead Nigger Storage first….hmmm….
What the fuck is Dead Nigger Storage?
Are you on the meth again? And where is your girlfriend, YoBo?
Try not to be a dick so much, RDawg..no ill feelings here..
But being a dick is what I do best. I mean, why fight it?
Oh. Yeah, been a long time time since I’ve seen that movie. I always wondered why Quentin Tarantino thought it was okay to fuck up his movies by doing cameos.
Same reasoning that stephen king uses to insert himself in his movies. I need too feel famouserer, and no one else wants me in their movie, waaaa!
Did you notice a sign out in front of my house that said #deadn1ggerstorage?
“But being a dick is what I do best.”
Yes, we know this…That is your value, I suppose..But you are a wise man for your age.. Thus, I follow your posts…climb…
Should be manslaughter but cop should be in jail so likely oversentenced here.
One less welfare drain and one less likely trigger happy storm trooper… oh well.
Although, I’ve never heard of a man on welfare.
Shooting a man in the back while he is running away from you is MURDER, not manslaughter, not accidental, not justified. 20 years my ass.
The electric chair would be more appropriate. God dammed cop fuk shitheads.
I’ve watched the Slager video a hundred plus times . The distance between Scott and Slager at the time of the shooting was at least 15 feet or more…..Slager’s life wasn’t in danger. The video also shows Slager trying to stage the scene by dropping the taser next to Scott…he knew he fucked up .
Years ago after my step son got back from Quantico he and I went to the farm so that he could teach me some of the shooting techniques that he had learn at the FBI school.
I set up some targets and got back about 30 feet to shoot . He asked me why I was so far back ?
I told him this was the distance that I always practiced at.He said that FBI stats showed that most shootings were 3-5 feet in distance and that I needed to work on drawing my weapon and firing two quick rounds at that distance.
He further told me that at that distance unless the person was shooting at me;I would have a hard time convincing a grand jury that my life was in danger.( That was before the castle doctrine in S.C. but may still apply ?) .
In other news…
“Police body cam footage shows the moment a Mesa, AZ police officer gunned down an unarmed man in a hotel hallway — a shooting where the jury found the officer not guilty of 2nd degree murder.”
“While attempting to take Shaver into custody … Brailsford fired his AR-15 five times, shooting and killing the 26-year-old. Brailsford, who is no longer on the force, was on trial for 2nd degree murder and reckless manslaughter — until the jury returned not guilty verdicts Thursday on both counts.”
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Best cam view I have seen is on TMZ
Here:
And the wormy little sick fuck who did the murder.
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Poindexter in full compensation.
If that were my brother and the legal system had just failed my family I would go full Jack Bull on the officer . This was an execution….nothing more .
Napoleon electra glide in blue…is dynamite