Michael Slager, an officer with the North Charleston Police Department, has been charged with murder after a highly disturbing video surfaced that shows him shooting an unarmed man who was running away. He could face the death penalty for the alleged crime.
The shooting followed a traffic stop for the ubiquitous reason of having a brake light out on his Mercedes-Benz. We have previously discussed the problem of pretextual stops where traffic violations are used to conduct searches or question drivers. For a prior column, click here.
The video below shows Walter Scott, 50, breaking away from the officer. Something clearly falls to the ground and the officer fires eight shots at the man as he runs away.
Police reports include a statement from Slager that “Shots fired and the subject is down. He took my Taser.”
The video appears to contradict some of what Slager reported. He did report using the taser without effect. The video appears to show wires from the stun gun extending from Scott’s body as the two men struggle. However, Scott then breaks away and is shot roughly 20 feet away from the officer in a hail of bullets.
Under Tennessee v. Garner, a fleeing suspect can be shot under limited circumstances. Deadly force may be used only when “necessary to prevent the escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious bodily harm to the officer or others.” Justice White wrote:
A police officer may not seize an unarmed, nondangerous suspect by shooting him dead…however…Where the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a threat of serious physical harm, either to the officer or to others, it is not constitutionally unreasonable to prevent escape by using deadly force.
The question is likely to be whether the struggle and failed use of the taser created a sufficient basis for Slager to believe that he had probable cause that Scott was posed a serious threat to him or others. Slager could claim that, the fact that Scott allegedly attacked him and tried to take his taser, was enough to satisfy that Garner standard. This is the ultimate jury decision and the image of shooting a fleeing suspect in the back will obviously present a considerable challenge for the defense.
Source: CNN
In the blink of an eye…
… From a broken tail light to being dead.
… From selling singles on the street corner to being dead.
… From just walking down a stairwell to being dead.
… From being a kid playing with a toy gun in a park to being dead.
… From playing with a toy gun in Walmart to being dead.
… For being homeless and camping in the hills to being dead.
… etc. etc. etc.
Well, if I was on Slager’s defense team, I would recommend that while in jail/prison he enroll in Goddard College and get his degree! Then, he could be asked to give a commencement speech just like Mumia! Not to mention all the celebrities that would come to his defense.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
cops are totally out of control. it would be great if he were convicted and sent to prison in Charleston, the bastion of old south white supremacy.
BTW, a bullet in the leg can be lethal if it hits a main artery.
There was a struggle before the filming started, or possibly was filmed but omitted, which may lessen the charge against the officer. Based on what we see in the video it doesn’t look good for the Officer. He likely panicked and started shooting. I wonder how many times the man was hit, I believe the officer shot at least 8 times.
Even cops aren’t standing by this killing.
Indeed, even the question of whether this killing was justified doesn’t even seem to be an issue.
Heck, even PoliceOne.com hasn’t tried to justify this kill.
Yet any reader can go through the comments on this thread and find many who reflexively defend (and sometimes even celebrate) a murderer they’ve never met simply because he was wearing a uniform (or perhaps because he killed a black guy) – even after watching a video of the murder.
For some, the desire to automatically submit to, defend, or even worship authority overrides rational, independent thought almost effortlessly.
I am a 63 year old white male. The last time I was pulled over in a traffic stop, I was literally afraid for my life, and the small town Virginia cop was enjoying it. I don’t recall this dynamic years ago, when cops were not so anxious to use their gun. The fact is, American courts and politicians have written the police a blank check called “officer safety.” And it is drawn on your life.
A police thug. One amongst many.
Oh wait! He’s a cop. Cops eat tons of doughnuts.. . .The Doughnut Defense!!!
From wiki:
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Wow, I can’t even think of a good potential defense on this one. This was just plain old murder. I guess he can always claim the victim yelled, ” Warrant for child support??? I am going to go kill that ho right now. . .” Or something like that, but I don’t think even that will work. Maybe he can say he believed Jeanine Pirro was after him??? Nope. His only chance is to bribe one of the jurors, or end up having a brain tumor
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Jerry said…
Slager could have aimed for guys legs
anarmyofficer …said otherwise, no one is trained to shot for the legs, other than when in battle if under assault you shoot to the ground before an enemy to have ricochets bounce in to the enemy, sometimes the legs. No one aims for the legs.
Wadewilliams said…
As issac points out, the military is adept at dehumanizing the enemy. And if UNS420 is any indication, they are also adept at eliminating the ability to think.
Says a guy I’d bet never served in military combat. Correct me if I am wrong. If nothing else, the US military demands you “think” and that is what enables a PFC to take over a platoon when necessary (a unique feature of our armed forces)…under today’s “rules of engagement” (which I could not abide) you are forced, by command, to consider every human aspect of the enemy. Sometimes to your detriment and demise.
Moving on, this officer made a mistake, and it is 2nd degree murder from what I’ve seen in that video. If there was a cause to believe the fleeing guy was a danger per se to the over all public, it has not yet been presented. Me…I’ll wait until I can read the charges and whatever testimony is available. Based on that video alone…it was 2nd degree murder, plain and simple…and not part of any police or military training that I know of anywhere in the US.
The New York Times headline was “South Carolina Officer Is Charged With Murder in Black Man’s Death”. Good. From the looks of the video that is a just result. However, I have three questions about how it was reported:
1) Why is it important to note the race of the man who was shot in the headline? The NYT seems to want to nudge headline readers into thinking it is race related – whether it is or not.
2) Can you imagine that if the situation were reversed and a black cop shot a white man in the back who was fleeing the scene, that The New York Times would note in the headline that the man shot in the back was a white man? I can not.
3) Why is he a black man? I thought the preferred term is African American.
Ross
“Having said that it is usually the police leadership, city attorney and other government leaders that are more culpable than the subordinate police officers in most cases but this officer appears to be the exception.”
I think that’s an accurate description.
Mr. Schultz,
I think you make a good point to let the facts play out through discovery and trial before a legal judgment.
Also, I agree (and appreciate the candor) that if this occurred two years ago there would not be a rush to charge.
I’ll have to look into the WWII assassination you mention.
TJustice
Happy pappies
And so much for Justice after the fact. There’s another dead civilian… Uniformed personnel are routinely given the power to strike kill due to “fear” of life for that person or others. Civilians don’t have this right in practice, especially against powerful people so we have a bunch of body bags and rarely (if ever) accountability. And if there is, the victim has already perished in most cases.
What Justice? Are we not twisting words here as the reason the blog article was printed was because of the police brutality
You will just get usual players here that are NOT Darren Wilson or Paul Schulte. He is describing the Japanese
what is the current police procedure on shooting a fleeing felon? I know – in the past – the police could warn a felon to stop and if he didn’t shoot him. Don’t know if they still can, or if they have to be considered a danger to the police or the public before they can shoot.
Rcocean – in Arizona you can only shoot fleeing felons. Misdemeanors get to out run you.
Rococean,
Here is a primer on the use of deadly force on fleeing felons. For the most part it serves as the basis for most rules with regard to whether deadly force is considered reasonable. There is a slightly different standard with regard to escapees in immediate flight from prisons though but this generally what most situations will rely upon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_v._Garner
isaac,
The free movie tactic has revealed your true identity. You are obviously Danny Partridge.
TJ justice and Beldar
Nope. Bin Laden was an enemy combatant, ordered the attack on the World Trade Center. He was the leader of a group that not only declared war on the US but attacked the US. His body was treated with respect. He was washed per Islamic requirements, prayers were said over him by an Islamic cleric, and then he was dumped.
They could have torched him, photographed the hell out of him, and been at best efficient and just wiped out the entire base, but they went in, killed the worst enemy of America and then after verifying his identity, treated him with the respect he certainly did not deserve.
Good cops don’t let bad cops stand among their ranks…
Paul
I disagree partially. I think that it is the video that dams this cop to hell. Two years ago the same video would result in a murder charge or a manslaughter charge followed by public outrage. Today without the video the cop would walk or get fired at the most. However, eight shots fired and seven hits in the back is not that easy to explain even without the video. “He was trying to trick me by running backwards at me.” Yeah, that’s how we used to get into the movies for free. OK, you can go.