The Black Lives Matter movement leads the protest at a rally in North Charleston.
Video of a South Carolina officer’s deadly shooting of a fleeing black man paints a different picture of the scene than what’s written in official police incident reports, and now the camera-carrying witness has come forward to confirm: Walter Scott, the killed man, had just been trying to flee the Taser.
“They were down on the floor before I started recording,” said Feidin Santana, the man whose video of North Charleston officer Michael Slager’s eight-bullet shooting of Scott, who was stopped for a tail light violation, has now gone viral, NBC reported. “I remember the police had control of the situation. He had control of Scott and Scott was trying just to get away from the Taser. You can hear the sound of the Taser … before I started recording. I believe he just wanted to get away from the Taser.”
The video then shows an apparently unarmed Scott running from Slager, who then fires eight times in the direction of his retreating back. Scott ultimately falls to the ground. Slager has since been charged with his murder.
But official police incident reports indicate Slager reported he feared for his life and Scott had tried to wrestle away his Taser, CNN reported. The Guardian reported Slager initially said Scott, 50, had actually “grabbed” the Taser.
The FBI is investigating, as well as South Carolina state law enforcement officials.
“As you can see in the video, the police officer just shot him in the back,” Santana said, during an NBC interview, adding that he turned the video over to Scott’s family.
Scott’s family, meanwhile, has indicated intent to sue the police department. And protesters in the area have since gathered in the streets to demand justice, flashing signs with slogans like “Black Lives Matter,” a hearkening to last year’s police shooting of black teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Some are demanding the mayor resign.
The mayor has since called for all police in the department to wear body cameras on their uniforms.
Scott was a father of four, recently engaged, and a former Coast Guard officer. He also had a police record that included multiple arrests for mostly nonviolent offenses, and at the time of his death, owed money for child support, WSOC TV reported.
Scott’s mother spoke to CNN to thank Santana for his courage to film the scene, and to say she believed God was in control of the situation.
“I’m supposed to be raging and upset … but I can’t be like that,” she said. “I feel forgiveness in my heart.”
from Propaganda Guard http://propguard.tumblr.com/post/115931759053
from Tumblr http://lisahcnease.tumblr.com/post/115931824532
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