SC officer charged with murder in man's death. Video catches him plant evidence.

[ArcadiaGP]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/u...-charged-with-murder-in-black-mans-death.html

WASHINGTON — A white police officer has been charged with murder, the mayor of North Charleston, S.C., said Tuesday, after a video surfaced showing him shooting and killing an apparently unarmed black man in the back while he ran away.

The officer, Michael T. Slager, had said he feared for his life because the man took his stun gun in a scuffle after a traffic stop on Saturday. A video, however, shows the officer firing eight times as the man fled. The state charges were announced in a news conference Tuesday evening.

Wow, this is a rough one.

 

[9mmfan]

Truly horrible! Even asshats make it onto police departments. What's truly disturbing (besides the actual shooting) is that the other officer saw the first cop drop the taser near the suspect. Just WOW.


Edit: Just saw the story on NBC Nightly News.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I'm not one to MMQ but I can't think of anything that makes that a good shoot. I'm thinking he'll eat that one.

 

[slowG]

Murder .

 

[Kirk Freeman]

This is what people thought Michael Brown was.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Can't watch the video right now but based on the narrative, yeah, the cop wasn't justified in this one.

 

[CZB1962]

Could it be that he was retrieving the taser and bringing it back for evidence? Even if that is so and it's not planting evidence, it still looks like a bad shoot.

Now the question is was it racially motivated? Only the officer knows for sure but you can bet that is how it will play out in the media.

 

[Woobie]

That cop wins the Darwin Award. If it weren't such a sad outcome, it would be a comedy of errors.

Oh, and

Edit: And he might as well start getting his swastikas and Arian Nation tattoos, as well as making other, erm, preparations, now. He's going to need to make friends fast when he gets to prison. Otherwise, he won't make it a week.

 

[phylodog]

Death penalty.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Unlikely. I think the defense might have a shot at Manslaughter with a jury.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

I'm not one to MMQ but I can't think of anything that makes that a good shoot. I'm thinking he'll eat that one.

As he should. And if the other cop covered for him he should be prosecuted as well.

 

[phylodog]

Unlikely. I think the defense might have a shot at Manslaughter with a jury.

Then I'll settle for life, hard labor. Surely someone out there needs their boulders hammered into rocks, hammered into stones, hammered into sand then hammered into dust. Seems just the occupation for this guy.

 

[Woobie]

Just a quick PSA: I'm not here to blame the victim of this crime, but for Pete's sake, don't run. Let him scream at you, spit, kick, throw a tantrum. Fix it in court. Even if you don't get shot, you know you'll just get kicked harder when they catch back up.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Truly horrible! Even asshats make it onto police departments. What's truly disturbing (besides the actual shooting) is that the other officer saw the first cop drop the taser near the suspect. Just WOW.


Edit: Just saw the story on NBC Nightly News.

Lots of asshats make onto PDs. This guy wasn't as asshat, he's a murderer.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Could it be that he was retrieving the taser and bringing it back for evidence?

Easy question to answer. What'd he say in his statement?

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Cell phone video shows police officer shooting man in back eight times | Twitchy

 

[2001FZ1]

As he should. And if the other cop covered for him he should be prosecuted as well.

I second that. Both cops need to spend the rest of their lives in prison. Not reporting the crime of a fellow officer is just as bad as committing the crime!

 

[IndyGal65]

This is horrible. And if it hadn't of been for that cell phone video, that murderer would have probably gotten away with it

 

[CathyInBlue]

How much more dangerous are LEOs to law abiding gun carriers than to anyone else when they have the legal authority to declare by fiat that they perceive a person they don't like as being a danger to themselves or others? That power makes them seem like an unwarranted danger to me. My perception of LEOs as a danger will be used by them as justification for their own perception of law abiding gun carriers as a danger, and we have a vicious circle that can only end with the stripping of LEOs of power or law abiding gun carriers of their lives.

 

[phylodog]

Except that not all LEOs view law abiding gun carriers as a danger. Some of us have been encouraging citizens to obtain a license and carry a handgun for more than 15 years.

Not that it has the foggiest thing to do with this thread.