SC - Walter Scott, 50, fatally shot by North Charleston PD officer, 4 April 2015 - #1

[AlwaysShocked]

Obey without question? In that case I guess I should have obeyed that cop that stopped me when I was about 17 yrs old, who took my license and told me that I needed to follow him down a dirt road off the highway in order to get them back, right?

So what did you do? And how did you ever get your license back? Did you and your parents report this incident to higher authorities?

 

[lonetraveler]

So what did you do? And how did you ever get your license back? Did you and your parents report this incident to higher authorities?

My father was very well known and a big supporter of LE. I told him that I was not going to follow him and that I was going to drive off and my father, Mr. ............... would be picking up my license tomorrow morning. He then handed me my license and said to "have a nice day".

I am a strong supporter of LE but I know by more than this one instance that there are members of LE who will misuse their authority to harm people. These individuals know that people usually fear them and do whatever out of fear.

ETA: And yes it was reported to higher authorities.

 

[EllieBee]

My father was very well known and a big supporter of LE. I told him that I was not going to follow him and that I was going to drive off and my father, Mr. ............... would be picking up my license tomorrow morning. He then handed me my license and said to "have a nice day".

I am a strong supporter of LE but I know by more than this one instance that there are members of LE who will misuse their authority to harm people. These individuals know that people usually fear them and do whatever out of fear.

I hate that this happened to you, but I fear you are not alone, hence my take on respecting LE within limits.

Those limits being my own "danger meter".

{{{hugs}}} to you. How scary.

 

[lonetraveler]

I'm wondering if Walter Scott was tazered more than once. I also think that the struggle might have been him trying to stop the officer from tazing him again.

 

[Tawny]

I'm wondering if Walter Scott was tazered more than once. I also think that the struggle might have been him trying to stop the officer from tazing him again.

My understanding is that it was the type of taser that only fires once and then has to be "reloaded."

Does anyone have a link that states what type of taser this is?

 

[MyBelle]

Walter Scott had NO reason/excuse not to follow lawful commands that I am aware of. He was not in ANY danger when this situation unfolded. He was NOT running for his life.

JMO

BBM. Thanks for noting that important detail.

 

[Tawny]

We have no way of knowing what his reasons are because he is dead.

 

[Brightbird]

BBM. Which is my point. Shootings are investigated and a decision is made whether it was justified or not. In this case, the officer has been charged. Whether he will be convicted will be up to a jury.

JMO

Certainly the murder charge should be tried by a jury. The police department also decides whether it was justified according to policy, and he's been fired. Based on the video evidence, it's pretty hard (impossible for me) to think of a scenario in which this shooting was justified. If you take away the authority and the uniform, you have one man being shot at 8 times in the back while trying to run away from another man. Hard to see how that is defending anyone's safety. Slager has the presumption of innocence, and I hope a jury will see past his position of authority and hold him accountable to the same standards as anyone else. Cops don't have special rights to kill people. If they do, and I'm not aware, something's very wrong.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

There is a third video now. CNN has it posted. It does not really add anything, it is of another officer who arrived at the scene patting down the passenger from Scott's vehicle. A black male who supposedly did not see the events.

 

[Canaille]

RSBM

Where is the video of the ground scuffle ? Thus far I've only watched the LiveLeak video of the incident; and from the start of that clip it looked like Scott was slapping something out of Slager's hands (looked like something fell to the ground at that point ) and then Scott takes off, running ?
Imo

Do we know that the item the officer dropped next to Scott was, in fact, the taser? I know it does look like a gun in the still shot, but it may not be.

Also, I recall seeing two items fall to the ground immediately following the scuffle. My guess is that one may have been Scott's cap.

 

[Cubby]

South Carolina shooting case will head to a grand jury

Prosecutors in South Carolina plan to go to a local grand jury with the case of the former North Charleston police officer who shot and killed a black man during a traffic stop.

The soonest the case could be presented to a grand jury is May 4, according to the prosecutor’s office. The former officer, Michael T. Slager, is being held on a charge of murder in connection with the shooting death of Walter L. Scott on Saturday.

“My role is to hold accountable those who harm others unlawfully, regardless of profession,” prosecutor Scarlett Wilson said in a prepared statement. “This office does not dictate nor comment upon police policy, training and procedure. I am, however, deeply concerned when those who are sworn to serve and protect violate the public's trust.”​

link

Interesting still photo's at that link. They appear to show the taser behind Slager when he started shooting.

 

[shadowraiths]

No one has access to the police incident reports...anything aired on MSM is designed to form a narrative. None of those reports have been released.

I posted a link to them in this post, yesterday. See first link in the aforementioned post.

 

[CoolJ]

Yeah, have a kid tell a cop, "officer, this just seems wrong" and see how far it gets him/her. Failure to disobey a police officer is a crime.

I would never encourage a child to question the directive being given by a police officer. There are procedures for lodging complaints later.

JMO

And if this video didn't exist. How exactly does a dead Mr. Scott lodge a complaint?
Have you ever tried to lodge a complaint against a LEO? How far do you think you would get with that?

Also, where and what law states that one must obey LEO?

 

[popsicle]

Certainly the murder charge should be tried by a jury. The police department also decides whether it was justified according to policy, and he's been fired. Based on the video evidence, it's pretty hard (impossible for me) to think of a scenario in which this shooting was justified. If you take away the authority and the uniform, you have one man being shot at 8 times in the back while trying to run away from another man. Hard to see how that is defending anyone's safety. Slager has the presumption of innocence, and I hope a jury will see past his position of authority and hold him accountable to the same standards as anyone else. Cops don't have special rights to kill people. If they do, and I'm not aware, something's very wrong.

BBM That is not how the Supreme Court has ruled in regards to LEO shooting/use of force cases. Tennessee v. Garner (1985) and Graham v. Connor (1989).

 

[i.b.nora]

That video with the passenger out if the car reveals nothing, but it was reported today that that person has spoken with law enforcement and currently does not wish to be identified. Earlier this week, someone in Scott's family said they did not know him but think that he worked with Scott. The reporter said they went to Scott's former place of employment and they said they did not know him. It was on TV this afternoon, I think CNN.

 

[shadowraiths]

Also, I thought Scott had the taser thingies (technical term) still stuck on him as he was running,

Police later said that Scott was hit with the Taser at least once, because part of it was still attached to him when other officers arrived on the scene.​

link

 

[MyBelle]

And if this video didn't exist. How exactly does a dead Mr. Scott lodge a complaint?
Have you ever tried to lodge a complaint against a LEO? How far do you think you would get with that?

Also, where and what law states that one must obey LEO?

Mr. Scott doesn't get to lodge a complaint, which is my point. His actions resulted in his death.

Every state has traffic laws and drivers must obey them and follow instructions.

SC Code § 56-5-740 (2012) No person shall willfully fail or refuse to comply with any lawful order or direction of any police officer, fireman or uniformed adult school crossing guard invested by law with authority to direct, control or regulate traffic.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-287; 1952 Code Section 46-287; 1949 (46) 466; 1977 Act No. 149 Section 1.

http://law.justia.com/codes/south-carolina/2012/title-56/chapter-5/section-56-5-740/

 

[shadowraiths]

The videos released do not show CPR being performed on Mr. Scott.

This one does (see 3:17 mark):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbvU8HFROwI&t=3m17s

 

[Tawny]

Mr. Scott doesn't get to lodge a complaint, which is my point. His actions resulted in his death.

Every state has traffic laws and drivers must obey them and follow instructions.

SC Code § 56-5-740 (2012) No person shall willfully fail or refuse to comply with any lawful order or direction of any police officer, fireman or uniformed adult school crossing guard invested by law with authority to direct, control or regulate traffic.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-287; 1952 Code Section 46-287; 1949 (46) 466; 1977 Act No. 149 Section 1.

http://law.justia.com/codes/south-carolina/2012/title-56/chapter-5/section-56-5-740/

He's not dead because of his actions. He's dead because a police officer illegally deployed the use of deadly force instead of chasing him. Which is why that officer is being charged with murder.

 

[EllieBee]

Mr. Scott doesn't get to lodge a complaint, which is my point. His actions resulted in his death.

Every state has traffic laws and drivers must obey them and follow instructions.

SC Code § 56-5-740 (2012) No person shall willfully fail or refuse to comply with any lawful order or direction of any police officer, fireman or uniformed adult school crossing guard invested by law with authority to direct, control or regulate traffic.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-287; 1952 Code Section 46-287; 1949 (46) 466; 1977 Act No. 149 Section 1.

http://law.justia.com/codes/south-carolina/2012/title-56/chapter-5/section-56-5-740/

He doesn't get to lodge a complaint because he was shot dead with 8 shots to his back while running away.

After which, it appears the officer tried to enhance his claim of "he's got my taser" by retrieving the taser (not anywhere NEAR the dead man Scott) and depositing it next to the murdered man's body. After a moment he realizes his partner saw the plant and he picks it back up.

Paint it however you will. This was not justifiable and every single one of us as Americans ought to be shaking in our boots. No matter how you respond, next time it could be YOU.

Constitutional rights don't end with the second amendment. Why are people so gung ho to defend that right, but not a citizen's right to due process? If Scott was guilty of a crime, he was entitled to his day in court.

Shooting him in the back 8 times is not legal justice.