It’s a routine traffic stop — a Mercedes-Benz with a broken taillight. It quickly turns deadly: There is a scuffle between the officer and the driver of the car. “Something” is dropped on ground. The man starts to run. The officer draws his gun and fires eight times into the man’s back. After the eighth shot, the man falls to the ground, dead.
This is the sequence of events during an incident in North Charleston, South Carolina, when a white officer, Michael T. Slager, 33, encountered a black man, Walter L. Scott, 50. According to the video and the account by The New York Times, wires consistent with those of a Taser were trailing from Scott’s body as he ran. It seems that Slager had already used his Taser by this time, and that it was in hand as he and Scott scuffled. But then something despicable happened.
“Something — it is not clear whether it is the stun gun — is either tossed or knocked to the ground behind the two men and Officer Slager draws his gun, the video shows. ... The officer then runs back toward where the initial scuffle occurred and picks something off the ground. Moments later, he drops an object near Mr. Scott’s body, the video shows.”
Slager deliberately planted that “something” (which in all likelihood was the Taser) next to Scott in order to make it look like he was justified in shooting a man eight times in the back. Eight times. Let that sink in. This wasn’t some officer protecting himself. How is he protecting himself from an unarmed man? This one didn’t even have Skittles and iced tea.
What excuse does Slager have for using his weapon? This wasn’t a man who “feared for his life,” as Slager tried to claim after the fact. People in fear for their lives don’t shoot people running away. Even if Scott had taken the Taser, so what? Can you really kill an officer in Kevlar with a Taser? If anything, Walter Scott was the one in fear of his life as he ran from an officer pulling his gun after having just pulled his Taser.
I’m not trying to bash police officers or taint their reputation, whatever region of the U.S. they may come from. I deeply respect all of the men and women who serve in uniform for this beautiful country. They put their lives on the line every single day. They get up because they deeply care about the security and well-being of Americans.
What I can’t and never will respect is the mentality that just because an officer has a gun, he can use it. What I can’t and never will respect is a coward who uses his uniform to act out his racial prejudices. For anyone who doesn’t think that this was racially motivated, I would ask them, what’s your explanation for this officer’s despicable behavior? If Scott wasn’t black, would Slager have shot him in the back eight times? Would he even have pulled Scott, who was driving a very nice Mercedes-Benz, over in the first place?
I have tried to avoid wading into this debate and on-going back and forth about race in our country. I’m not naïve. I know more about the history of slavery, segregation and racism in this country than I would like to. I have faced racism and derogatory comments about those of my race numerous times on the ASU campuses, whether explicit or implied. But I have tried not to elaborate on the events in Florida, in Ferguson, in Cleveland and in New York, because I felt like they were just isolated incidents, that they weren’t the norm. But I’ve had enough. As a young black man, I have to question my security when I keep hearing about incidents like this.
This problem needs to be rooted out and destroyed. This concept that a police officer has power over someone because he has a badge and a gun. Police officers have authority to enforce the law, not to do whatever they want. This idea that because a black man is driving a nice vehicle or just walking down the street, that he should be shot. It needs to stop. The actions of the prosecutor in charging Slager are a great first step, but something more needs to happen.
Reach the columnist at jbrunne2@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @JARBrunner4.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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