A former police officer has been indicted on federal charges for killing a black driver in the USA state of SC past year, one of a series of incidents that sparked protests over perceived racist abuses by law enforcement.
Advertisement
When I wrote about the case of Officer Michael Slager and the shooting of Walter Scott previous year I allowed that Slager deserved his day in court like any accused person, but that it was nearly undoubtedly going to wind up in a conviction. A bystander’s cell phone video captured Slager firing eight times at Scott’s back as he fled a traffic stop for a broken tail light previous year.
Slager’s state trial is set to begin this fall, and he faces a possible life sentence without parole. He says Slager continues to believe in the justice system.
The shooting enflamed national unrest over police use of force, particularly in regard to treatment of black men.
The feeling of seeing a police officer actually and appropriately punished for brutality is, at best, bittersweet: knowing that Slager’s manipulation of the truth and outright lies would have likely stood had Santana not happened to be at the right place at the right time doesn’t exactly instill confidence in our nation’s justice system.
In the days after the shooting, federal prosecutors allege that Slager “knowing and intentionally misled” state investigators in his account of the fatal shooting.
Slager, who was sacked from the police department, had been held in solitary confinement until January, when he was put under house arrest after putting up a half a million dollars bail.
Andy Savage, a lawyer for Slager, did not immediately comment on the federal case.
A federal indictment unsealed Wednesday charges Michael Slager, 34, with depriving Scott of his civil rights.
A judge later ruled that Slager could remain free on bond despite the federal charges. “This is history”, says an attorney for the family of Scott, who was shown on video to be running away from Slager when he was shot five times from behind in April 2015.
It’s uncommon for the Justice Department to bring federal civil rights charges against police officers in deadly shootings.
Scott’s mother Judy Scott said she thanks God for justice.
Slager is now awaiting murder charges in state court.
“The new charges could serve as a backstop if the state’s case against Slager were to fail”.
Maximum penalties for Slager in both state and federal cases are the same: life in prison.
Advertisement
Slager was initially placed on administrative leave while SLED investigated the shooting.
