South Carolina Ex-Cop Bond Denied After Killing Unarmed Black Male
Michael Slager, the white South Carolina cop who shot and killed Walter Scott during a traffic stop, has been denied bond as his case prepares for trial.
The incident happened on April 4 and was recorded by a passerby, capturing Scott’s death and Slager planting a taser near Scott’s body.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xbilaD6sWA
In the video, Officer Slager pulled Walter Scott over and began to conduct a routine traffic stop for a broken taillight. At some point, the situation escalated with Scott seen running away from Slager, as Slager fired a total of eight shots before striking Scott and killing him. Then, as Scott lay lifeless on the ground, Officer Slager is seen picking up the taser that had fallen near Scott’s car and planting it a few feet from Scott’s body.
Michael Slager was immediately fired and charged with the murder of Walter Scott. At his bond hearing, which was the first time he had been in the same room with Scott’s family, Slager continued to claim his innocence, saying that Scott attempted to take his taser.
Here’s Circuit Judge Clifton Newman’s ruling:
After careful consideration of all the evidence presented and the nature and the circumstances of the offense, the court finds that the release of (the) defendant would constitute an unreasonable danger to the community and the request for release on bond should be denied.
In a statement from the Scott family, Walter Scott’s brother, Anthony applauded the judge’s decision but did not want the public to celebrate such a ruling, under the grave circumstances.
Today isn’t cause for celebration. There are no winners or losers when one man has lost his life at the hands of another… Our family respects the judge’s decision to deny bond for Michael Slager. We trust in God and our prayer is that something like this never happens again to any family, anywhere.
Michael Slager remains in solitary confinement in a South Carolina penitentiary awaiting his trial for murder. If convicted, Slager could face 30 years to life without parole.