Posted on 04/14/2015 5:58:20 PM PDT by IChing
In the very first media reports of the shooting by South Carolina officer Michael Slager of Walter Scott the North Charleston police were quoted as follows (Saturday April 4th):
FIRST MEDIA 4/4/15 […] Police in a matter of hours declared the occurrence at the corner of Remount and Craig roads a traffic stop gone wrong, alleging the dead man fought with an officer over his Taser before deadly force was employed.
[…] A statement released by North Charleston police spokesman Spencer Pryor said a man ran on foot from the traffic stop and an officer deployed his department-issued Taser in an attempt to stop him.
That did not work, police said, and an altercation ensued as the men struggled over the device. Police allege that during the struggle the man gained control of the Taser and attempted to use it against the officer. The officer then resorted to his service weapon and shot him, police alleged. (link)
A video containing part of the confrontation surfaced when eye-witness Feidin Santana contacted the family of Walter Scott the following day (Sunday); and then gave the video to South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) on Monday.
Officer Slager was arrested later Monday afternoon and charged with Murder before witness Santana was even interviewed.
The actual public display of the video began on Tuesday April 7th. With the immediate media storyline stating the original police statements were “false” and/or “factually inaccurate”.
The story became about “lying police”, and that specific narrative framed the media discussion for the next week. Even normally level-headed media punditry jumped into the PC fray for their pound of flesh shouting that Officer Slager falsified his statement(s).
However, with time, further careful research, and much closer looks at the video itself, it appears that nothing initially stated by South Carolina LEO, or more specifically Officer Michael Slager is false or incorrect. [zoomed taser video by Bob]
Where is the taser barb and the resulting blood from a taser barb wound? Where is the report that Slager ever had a taser barb in him from any of the responding officers?
Quite a bit of audio/video/radio calls have been released from after the shooting. If Scott shot Slager with the Taser, then why didn't Slager say so? And in the initial police statements about the shooting (which were supportive of Slager, before the video was released), why did they not say anything about Scott shooting Slager with the taser?
Your entire argument that this was a justified shooting is based on an assumption that is not supported by a shred of evidence.
So you really didn’t have a point, one picture is when he is only a few feet away as he is running, and my picture is when he is farther away and the bullets are hitting him.
In your photo, the cop wasn’t shooting him yet.
from what I can see the Taser falls behind the officer, as the suspect runs away.
In running away, it appears the talon is attached somewhere on the suspects garments, getting the cable caught up around the shoes and as the officer pulls his gun, the taser cable is tangled on his left hand, with the remainder of the cable behind him and attached to the Taser.
Personally, and based on the little I know about this whole thing, I still don't think they cop was was just being overly careless or anything else on purpose. It was likely one of those times when those split second decisions were wrong and are just not something you can take back. I would guess he is likely more torn up about this than anyone else. Hell, he killed a guy. That's gotta be a damned hard pill to swallow. But hey, who knows. He could also be "one of them". To assume anything is kindof reckless of me, I guess I just want to believe the guy is just a normal dood who messed up real bad. But he'll get no such benefit from the media
I don’t care about any of these nuances, he said, she said, he did... NO SPECIAL RIGHTS, Hold the officer to the SAME EXACT STANDARDS that any Citizen would be held to.
If a Citizen shot somebody in the BACK while running away after a violent encounter, would he be charged with Murder??
That is the only correct answer.
“Police allege that during the struggle the man gained control of the Taser and attempted to use it against the officer.”
So many people want cops to leisurely put apprehending violent fugitives on a to-do list for when it’s convenient, like tracking down overdue library books. Cops have duty to act, not the legal duty to retreat Paul Blart has.
HEY GENIUS, READ THE POST.
“Police allege that during the struggle the man gained control of the Taser and attempted to use it against the officer.”
That’s the initial official reports, genius
Bottomline, He shot him in the back. The threat was abated priot to the murder, No amount of excuses can support the claim that he felt threatened.
Seems like many of the “conservatives” here woud rather justify a murder with nad argument than admit a cop was in the wrong. And I voted for Romney.
Yes, but your contention is that Scott shot Slager with the taser barbs. That is impossible, since there is no doubt that Slager shot Scott, and (based on the rest of the quote you posted to me) Slager shot Scott almost immediately after Scott got the Taser. There was no opportunity for Scott to reload the Taser.
But sure, keep licking that boot. I’ll bet you even consider yourself a limited government conservative. How cute.
It’s really incredible the lengths that some Freepers will go to justify any and every officer-involved shooting.
Equal Protection Under The Law!! for EVERYONE, Including people in magic blue costumes.
Yes, it is very clear. The beginning of the video shows the two on the ground with Scott over the officer and you can hear the taser clicking as it is deployed. Then you see them rising and Scott moving away while taser wires lead to the officers clothing. Slager was assaulted with his own weapon by a desperate, dangerous thug.
Here is another police attack for us all to “monday morning quarterback”...
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3279223/posts
Cops have duty to act, not the legal duty to retreat”
WRONG, The US Supreme Court ruled a long long time ago, that the Police “Have No Legal Duty to protect the citizenry or uphold or enforce ANY LAW” The ONLY “Legal Duty” they have is to the Political Entity that Employs Them. That means they only have a duty to do what their employer tells them to do. Got It.
Tasers contain one cartridge. If Scott himself was shot with the taser, then how did the taser wires get into Slager? When did Scott have control of the taser with enough time and separation from Slager to stop and reload so he could shoot Slager? Why has Slager’s lawyer not been shouting from the rooftops that Scott shot Slager? Why has the alleged tasing not appeared in any official reports on the shooting, or anywhere other than a single blog?
“monday morning quarterback”.??
Not here, you will find I am very consistent with my views,
If an ordinary citizen Shot and Killed a person in the Back, while he was Running Away after a Violent Encounter, would he be charged with a crime??
EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW!!
You know the answer is YES, It would be MURDER
Point to one instance where I EVER claimed Scott actually succeeded in doing what you allege is my contention. Did I post speculation that it appears to have been a possibility? Yes. Geez, this cognitive babysitting is getting tedious.
The rest of your post is gobbledygook, read it back to yourself
Yep, and cops have a duty to try to survive contacts with today’s feral criminals, and make sure other officers and bystanders survive, also. Several posters on Free Republic sound like they are members of the New Black Panther party. Very twilight-zoney.
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