Skip to footer

Prosecutors indict S.C. police officer who shot and killed unarmed black man

On Monday South Carolina prosecutors indicted Michael Slager, a former North Charleston police officer who shot and killed Walter Scott during a traffic stop, on murder charges. 

|
Grace Beahm/The Post and Courier/AP
Walter Scott's family, left to right, sister-in-law Denise Scott, son Anthony Scott, mother Judy Scott, and father Walter Scott Sr., gather with attorneys for Scott’s family, outside the Charleston County Courthouse Monday, June 8, 2015, after a Charleston County grand jury handed down an indictment for murder against North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager in the April 4 shooting death of Walter Scott in Charleston, S.C. Slager fatally shot Scott, who was unarmed, as he was trying to run from a traffic stop.
  • By Bruce Smith Associated Press

| Charleston, South Carolina

The brother of an unarmed black man who was shot and killed by a white South Carolina police officer says the murder indictment against Michael Slager is a small step on the road to justice.

"It's a good victory for the family," Anthony Scott said during an interview broadcast on the NBC "Today" show Tuesday. "We're taking baby steps, but we know it's all to get to one point, and that's to get the justice for my brother."

A Charleston County grand jury on Monday found enough evidence to prosecute Slager, a former North Charleston police officer, on a murder charge. His shooting of a fleeing Walter Scott following a traffic stop on April 4 was recorded on a bystander's cellphone.

Anthony Scott said during the interview that justice for the family is a murder charge, a guilty verdict and a life sentence for Slager.

Slager, 33, faces 30 years to life in prison without parole if convicted. The death penalty doesn't apply because there are no aggravating circumstances, such as robbery or kidnapping, said prosecutor Scarlett Wilson who announced the indictment.

Wilson said no trial date has yet been sent.

"I don't think that I'm ready for it to go into trial just yet," Anthony Scott said in the interview. "But we'll be ready when the time comes."

Wilson said the murder charge requires prosecutors to prove what is referred to as "malice aforethought." That's a form of premeditation, but Wilson explains that it doesn't mean Slager would have had to think about killing Scott for a certain period of time before firing. She says the state can prove it's murder "as long as malice exists in the heart and mind at the time before and during the killing."

Slager's defense lawyer, Andy Savage, said he won't comment "until we have an opportunity to fully evaluate the state's case and to compare it with our own investigation."

Chris Stewart, a lawyer for Scott's family, said he plans to file a wrongful death civil suit against North Charleston, most likely by the end of July, and will keep close watch on the criminal prosecution meanwhile.

Slager has said he initially tried to stun Scott with his Taser when both men scuffled over the stun gun and he fired his handgun at Scott in self-defense.

The video shows the men briefly scuffling before Scott runs away and the officer fires at Scott's back.

The charge against Slager is the fourth in recent months in South Carolina involving white officers shooting at unarmed black men. One ended in a mistrial in January and is set for retrial next week.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Prosecutors indict S.C. police officer who shot and killed unarmed black man
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2015/0609/Prosecutors-indict-S.C.-police-officer-who-shot-and-killed-unarmed-black-man
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe