A grand jury today affirmed the state of South Carolina’s murder charge against a white former North Charleston police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man trying to run from a traffic stop.
The shooting on April 4 was captured on video by a bystander, showing officer Michael Slager firing eight times as 50-year-old Walter Scott ran away, enflaming a national debate about how black people are treated by white police officers.
Slager was charged with murder by state law enforcement agents and fired from the police force immediately after the video surfaced.
7 News 10 reported Prosecutor Scarlett Wilson announcing the indictment, which represents at least the fourth time in less than six months that a sitting grand jury in South Carolina has agreed that white officers should stand trial in the shootings of black men.
“The jury will make up its own mind after it sees the video and hears the other testimony,” Wilson said. No trial date has been set.
Walter Scott’s brother Rodney Scott said the family is “very happy and pleased” with the indictment of Slager.
In South Carolina, the investigating agency typically presents the case to a grand jury, not the prosecutor. Wilson said the investigating officers had the video when they went before the grand jury but couldn’t say for certain if they saw it.
The 33-year-old Slager, who has been jailed since his arrest, faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted. Wilson said the death penalty does not seem to apply because there were no aggravating circumstances such as robbery or kidnapping as required under state law.
Slager’s lawyer didn’t want to comment on the indictment.
Source-AP
