“Every time I close my eyes, all I see is my brother taking those bullets.”
“Every time I close my eyes, all I see is my brother taking those bullets.”
—Rodney Scott
Once again, a police department is under scrutiny after a white officer’s apparent misuse of deadly force left an unarmed black man dead and his loved ones and the rest of the world asking questions.
Walter L. Scott, 50, was shot and killed last weekend by North Charleston, S.C., Patrolman First Class Michael T. Slager, 33, a five-year veteran of the city’s Police Department. The shooting was caught on video by a bystander with a cellphone camera.
The video, which surfaced Tuesday, appears to refute Slager’s allegation that he shot Scott because he felt threatened. It shows the officer firing eight times at a fleeing man who had been stopped for driving with a broken brake light. Four bullets reportedly struck Scott in or below his back, and a fifth clipped his ear.
Almost as disturbing as watching an officer shoot an unarmed man is seeing Slager and another officer do little to save his life. Police reports said the officers administered CPR. But the video doesn’t show that. Rather, it shows Slager handcuffing a mortally wounded Scott and the officers lifting his shirt to look at his wounds.
The video also shows Slager walking back to where he and Scott struggled, picking up an unknown object, and dropping it on the ground near where Scott is lying. There is speculation that Slager moved his dropped Taser to corroborate his story that Scott had taken it.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has charged Slater with murder, and the FBI and Justice Department are also investigating. Perhaps the video will make it easier to find the truth and keep the case from following the path of similar incidents that have sparked demonstrations in recent months.
Rallies continue to be held to protest the deaths of unarmed black men in altercations with police in Ferguson, Mo., Staten Island, N.Y., and Cleveland, Ohio, where a 12-year-old boy carrying a toy gun, Tamir Rice, was gunned down. The frequency of such incidents prompted President Barack Obama to appoint a task force to recommend changes in policing.
That panel came up with 60 recommendations for the police to gain more trust in towns like Ferguson and North Charleston with large African-American populations but mostly white police forces. More diversity might make departments less likely to treat minorities differently.
In the meantime, as the task force recommended, body cameras would make officers more mindful of their actions, knowing they will be recorded even if there’s no one with a cellphone or camera nearby.
— The Philadelphia Inquirer