The person involved in the confrontation may not always be able to record what happens, and the officer's body cam might not be working, IF he's even wearing one. There has to be accountability for all the people who are killed by police officers, regardless of their skin color, their sexual/gender identity, or their country of origin.
50 year old Walter Scott was shot to death by a police officer on April 4, 2015, in North Charleston, South Carolina, after he was stopped for a non-functioning brake light. (The third brake light, usually on top of the trunk, not one of the ones that most people look at to see if the car has brake lights!). Scott, a black man who was unarmed, was fatally shot by Michael Slager, a white North Charleston police officer.
Initially, Slager claimed that Scott had grabbed his Taser and he was in fear for his life, and that was why he fired at him 8 times, hitting him with 5 out of the 8 bullets. For two days everyone defended Slager's actions, until a video surfaced that had been filmed by an unseen, anonymous, bystander <applause>. The video showed Walter Scott running away from Slager with nothing in his hands (no Taser), running at top speed in an attempt to get away, NOT threatening the life of the officer.
Slager was arrested and charged with murder by the state of South Carolina, and fired from the police department. His trial in October of 2016 ended in a hung jury, with 11 voting guilty, and 1 holdout voting not guilty. His federal trial is set to start May 15, 2017.
Michael Slager, officer who shot Walter Scott in South Carolina, to plead guilty in federal case
A former South Carolina police officer, charged in the 2015 videotaped fatal shooting of a fleeing man pleaded guilty Tuesday on the eve of his federal civil rights trial.
Michael Slager, 35, who was charged last year in a three-count indictment in connection with the shooting of Walter Scott, 50, entered a guilty plea in a Charleston federal court to one count of using excessive force.
"The Department of Justice will hold accountable any law enforcement officer who violates the civil rights of our citizens by using excessive force,'' Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. "Such failures of duty not only harm the individual victims of these crimes, they harm our country by eroding trust in law enforcement and undermining the good work of the vast majority of honorable and honest police officers.''
Slager's attorney, Andrew Savage III, issued a brief statement, expressing "hope that Michael’s acceptance of responsibility will help the Scott family as they continue to grieve their loss.
"As a sentencing date has not yet been determined, we will refrain from further comment at this time,'' Savage continued.
Slager, a former North Charleston officer, faces a maximum punishment of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The April 4, 2015 incident, which began with a simple traffic stop for a faulty brake light, was captured on video and ultimately showed Slager, a white officer, shooting Scott, a black man, as he attempted to flee from the scene on foot. Five of the eight shots fired by Slager struck Scott from behind.
Images of the shooting immediately went viral, escalating already-simmering tensions between minority communities and local law enforcement agencies around the country following a succession of fatal incidents involving police and black suspects.
In the days after the shooting, federal prosecutors alleged that Slager "knowingly and intentionally misled'' state investigators in his account of the shooting.
The state's murder case against the officer ended in a mistrial last December. Jury selection in the federal case was scheduled to begin next week.
South Carolina Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said the federal plea agreement, which includes Slager's waiver of an appeal, effectively ends the federal and state prosecutions of the officer.
"Now that Slager has pleaded guilty to a willful violation, admitted the facts we set out to prove and waived the right to appeal his conviction, a successive prosecution by the state is not necessary,'' Wilson said. "Soon, a federal judge will decide what name and label to give the killing of Walter Scott.''
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