One person’s decision to film a police altercation has radically altered the outcome of a police shooting in North Charleston, South Carolina.
A few days ago, the shooting death of Walter Scott was another traffic stop-turned deadly confrontation. Outside of Scott’s family and North Charleston’s police beat, the death had no more significance, nothing particularly noteworthy setting it apart from scores like it.
Content to believe police reports — as we should be — it seemed a tragic, but not illegal, killing. The policeman, Officer Michael Slager, reported he stopped Scott because his tail light was out. There was a confrontation; Slager used a Taser on Scott, but that had no effect. They fought. Scott took Slager’s Taser; Slager feared for his life. He responded in kind. “Shots fired and the subject is down. He took my Taser,” he said, according to the police report.
Thanks to a daring bystander armed with a camera, though, the police report clashes extensively with reality. The cell phone video, made public Tuesday, shows what actually happened: After Scott and Slager confronted each other, Scott ran away. As the Taser fell to the ground, Slager took a solid stance and fired eight rounds at Scott’s fleeing back. Scott collapsed; Slager handcuffed a dying man and waited calmly for backup.
What the video shows is murder. That’s the crime former Officer Slager — he was fired after the video surfaced — has been charged with. Public opinion is nearly unanimous in agreement. After all, it’s tough to watch one man shoot another in the back and come away from the experience feeling justice was served.
On top of everything, the video shows Slager drop an object near Scott’s body. Though we don’t yet know for sure what it is, speculation alleges it was the Taser, which suggests Slager was planting evidence to back up his fabricated police report.
What we have, then, is incontrovertible video evidence of police abuse, ranging from falsified reports, planting false evidence — something Fox News’ legal analyst Arthur Aidala claims used to be standard procedure — and murder. None of this would have been exposed had the anonymous witness decided not to record the shooting. In the words of Scott’s father, the case would have been “swept under the rug.”
This isn’t to say “all cops are bastards,” or that Slager went into this confrontation with intent to kill. It’s just that this is a significant case. These things do happen. For once, there may be consequences. Everyone able to recognize the difference between supporting police and unconditionally defending officers who murder unarmed citizens on film believes this is a very bad thing. However, there remain a few scoundrels out there who oppose the murder indictment and who are still distraught over the way “A Few Good Men” ended. Apparently, they believe running from an officer warrants summary execution. But they are a fringe minority.
Any justice that comes out of this will be thanks to the brave bystander who filmed the shooting. We applaud his courage.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 4/9/2015]
