White Police Officer Shoots and Kills Unarmed Black Man.

[Ajax]

Edit:

Just read your post above mine that you obviously spent a lot of time typing while I was responding to your first.  The short answer to your super long scenario - you know you fucked up, you take your lumps and you go to jail.  You don't fight.  You don't flee.  You pay the price for being a dumbass.  Some of us have done pretty much the exact same thing, but substitute 'concealed weapon' for 'valid driver's license', and you have a scenario that many people can relate to, myself included.

I'm speculating here, but it probably stands to reason that people living in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods (LSN) have more of an opportunity to have interactions with cops than people who live in, say, gated subdivisions.  I know there are cops that walk the beat who take the time to get to know the people in those neighborhoods, and they treat them with respect.  Those aren't the cops I'm talking about right now. 

So the guy living in the LSN is probably more likely to get hassled for doing the same thing that the guy in the gated neighborhood might.  If I'm walking down the street in, say, Hidden Hills with an open beer in my hand to visit my neighbor, nothing's going to happen.  Hell, the cop that lives down the street might give me a friendly wave as I walk by.  Now, if someone in a LSN walks down the street drinking a beer, it might not be quite so uneventful.  Even if he doesn't get arrested, just having some cop fuck with you is going to harden your feelings.  Now multiply that by 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  You might be a completely upstanding citizen with not even a parking ticket on your record, but you're a second-class citizen in your own neighborhood. 

I think that's part of why running from a cop from our perspective seems so unfathomable, and why running from the cop seemed like a reasonable response by Mr. Scott.   

[fsquid]

The coverage of this sure does make it seem that the 24 news networks want another Ferguson.

[fsquid]

The coverage of this sure does make it seem that the 24 news networks want another Ferguson.

The lack of coverage made it possible to have hundreds more shootings.  maybe thousands more.

I guess some people would prefer that.

of course not, but the guy is behind bars, will be tried.  Unsure the need for it to continue to be A block material 48 hours later.  Unsure how this will prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future as you will continue to have cops (both real and flashlight kinds) on power trips.

Also agree on Ajax's commentary.

[ChriswUfGator]

So, ahem, what's everybody's objection to body cameras again?

[menace1069]

Keep in mind that there was already a goFundme page for this murderer.  Which has now been shut down.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/08/michael-slager-gofundme_n_7028300.html

A fundraising page dedicated to South Carolina police officer Michael Slager was shut down by GoFundMe on Wednesday.

Slager was charged with the murder of 50-year-old Walter Scott after video surfaced of him shooting at the unarmed man eight times. GoFundMe's public relations manager, Kelsea Little, told The Huffington Post that the page's removal was "due to a violation of our terms and conditions."

However, Little said GoFundMe was unable to discuss the details of the campaign with anyone other than the organizer because of "privacy concerns."

One source of outside financial support for the Slager family will be North Charleston. In a press conference Wednesday, Mayor Keith Summey confirmed that the town would continue to pay for the medical insurance of the officer's wife, who is eight months pregnant, until the birth of the child.

Comparisons have been drawn between the shooting of Scott and Ferguson, Missouri, teen Michael Brown, including the online fundraising for the officer involved in the shooting in response to protests against police brutality.

Controversy swirled around the establishment of two GoFundMe pages that raised money for Darren Wilson, the officer responsible for the fatal shooting of Brown in July. Combined, they had raised nearly half a million dollars before they disappeared from the Internet late August.

A GoFundMe account for the cop? Are you kidding? And people contributed to it?
Wow...just wow.

[finehoe]

GoFundMe accounts for murderers in SC; bigots in Indiana.

What a world.

[Ajax]

So, ahem, what's everybody's objection to body cameras again?

To be clear, I'm in favor of them. 

I'm sure cost is one objection, but that can be overcome.  Maybe cities could start selling their MRAPs and other surplus military equipment to pay for body cameras.   

The main concern I have is privacy for victims or for people who are falsely accused.  (I'm sure defense attorneys and civil liberties groups will think of a lot more).  If cops barge into my house for any reason, I might not want the worst, most private moment of my life subject to Freedom of Information Act requests (or whatever the local equivalents are) and plastered all over the media.  I can't stand hearing 911 calls, it seems so invasive, but I guess it helps sell ads.  I'm sure TV stations wouldn't hesitate to show some juicy video footage.  I think that can get worked out, but not before a few innocent people are horribly exploited. 

Cops will want common-sense rules (ability to turn off cameras during personal conversations, bathroom breaks), and there would be times when they would need to turn off the camera to make a witness or a victim comfortable (for example, victims of sexual assault).  We could spend months talking about it and still not cover everything. 

I'm leaning toward my privacy issues being overcome by my public safety concerns, so I'm in favor of deploying body cameras as soon as is practically possible.  I can't help the nagging feeling that I'm being manipulated into giving up my privacy just like all the people that thought the Patriot Act sounded like a great idea at the time.  I could whip up a scenario where you combine these walking body cameras with facial recognition software and metadata and you could set up a turnkey totalitarian society, but my tinfoil hat is out for repairs right now.    

Numerous studies have shown that cops with cameras are more polite, have fewer complaints filed against them, have better relationships with citizens, etc. 

Have either of our Sheriff candidates given a firm answer about body cameras?  I remember hearing them asked a couple of weeks ago and I think they both gave wishy-washy answers, and I haven't read anything since then.   

[thelakelander]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/09/michael-slager-excessive-force_n_7032212.html

She had provided the officers with a detailed description of her ex-boyfriend, Matthew Givens, who is about 5 feet, 5 inches tall. Mario Givens stands well over 6 feet.

Don't you know that all of us black guys, in certain areas of town, look the same! Heck, even as far back as the 80s, when I was growing up, we all knew we were suspects, regardless of height and weight, when a crime committed by a black guy was reported.

Nothing new here. Slager seems like a tase first type of guy. If some guy has unsuccessfully attempted to tase you for your tail light being out, you'll probably attempt to run too!

[Ajax]

The Times cites a case described in the Justice Department's recent report on police practices in Ferguson, Missouri: "a traffic stop in which a Ferguson officer told the driver's 16-year-old son not to videotape him." The officer ultimately "wrestled the phone away from the teenager, and everyone in the car was arrested 'under disputed circumstances that could have been clarified by a video recording.'" Such incidents are familiar to Reason readers, and they often end with trumped-up charges such as interfering with police, disorderly conduct, or (my favorite) resisting arrest.

Because so many cops still don't get it (or get it but don't care), it is worth emphasizing at every opportunity that the right to record police is not some wacky, newfangled legal theory. It has been explicitly upheld by at least four federal appeals courts—in the 1st, 7th, 9th, and 11th circuits—and implicitly recognized by others. Federal judges outside of those four circuits have ruled that the right to record flows logically from other First Amendment rights, especially the right to gather information, and that it applies equally to all citizens, not just credentialed journalists.

Read the rest here: http://reason.com/blog/2015/04/09/the-shooting-of-walter-scott-and-the-rig#.myrs9e:SUcL

[TheCat]

Come on, the only ones with race issues are those in the media. They are obviously using the race card to grab viewers.

Obviously, there is no way race issues can possibly exist in America. Media companies know how to exploit the fantasy of racism in America. 

This is what I am reading and hearing anytime a situation like this happens. 

[TheCat]

One Lawyer's Fight For Young Blacks And 'Just Mercy'

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/20/356964925/one-lawyers-fight-for-young-blacks-and-just-mercy

This is a link to a radio interview with Bryan Stevenson on "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross.

[I-10east]

^^^Why, because he's black Stephendare? That's some racist ish. Even when I repeatedly said that the North Charleston cop is guilty... Proof that many white liberals are the most racist. It's always the white people (liberals) on MJ that give me antagonistic crap, never black people... Stay classy Stephen....

[I-10east]

^^^I never call people directly out like you did to me. I can be cordial with people that I disagree with certain issues on; Disagreeing with a person on one opinion, and having a short memory and giving that same person props with another opinion that I agree with. It's called being a gentleman, versus being a vindictive little weasel that you seem to be...You think that everyone has to agree with you, and if they don't you attack in the most indirect weasely way...

Are you kidding, with that 'thanks for showing you true feelings'? Even when I didn't reply to your earlier post, you just had to attack me with some racist over the top remark, misrepresenting my position on the North Charleston case....Fact is that many white liberals have to protect their main interest, which is the constant victimization of black people; If someone objects to that position, they will be attacked. Many liberal policies (and many conservative polices also) have ruined America. Fact is that you think you're helping blacks by treating all of us like disabled children, but it's a fact that you are hurting us. You've went very low before, but this is a record, even for you...

[I-10east]

^^^There has been cases that I thought my opinion was right, but I turned out to be wrong. Answer this question Stephen name ONE 'racially related' officer shooting case that your initial opinion was wrong, and the officer was actually justified? If you can't, you obviously are very biased in your opinions, as you are one of many sheeple brainwashed by the very powerful liberal based media.

Proof that race matters in media, google 'Luis Rodriguez' a minority in Oklahoma, who's basically a 'Hispanic Eric Garner'. I didn't see any constant media attention with his case, it blew in the wind very quickly. There's your proof. I don't like it and you don't have to accept the facts, but it's the truth.

[I-10east]

I think its pretty clear that you are back to your old hatred of white liberals.   

This boils simply down to the legitimate use of police power, vs a license to kill.Thats all, and death doesn't care what color you are.

^^^I don't 'hate' anyone, but murderers, rapist etc. It's not a coincidence that white liberals like yourself are the most aggressive with foisting their very strong opinions upon humanity; I'm attacked by them the most. Notice that I didn't say ALL white liberals. You've reached a different stratosphere with your unprovoked political racist attack on me. I have very tough skin though, and someone being racist (like your video linking me) isn't the end of the world.