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| Former South Carolina officer pleads guilty in Walter Scott killing | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Former South Carolina police officer Michael Slager pleaded guilty on Tuesday to violating the civil rights of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man he shot and killed as he fled from a 2015 traffic stop. | |
| The 35-year-old former officer, who is white, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to using excessive force on Scott. A sentencing date has not yet been set, but the conviction carries up to life in prison. | |
| Eyewitness video of the 2015 shooting captured the moment that Slager opened fire on Scott as he ran away from the officer with his back turned. The footage commanded international attention and was cited by members of the Black Lives Matter movement as among the clearest evidence of the fatal consequences of racially biased policing in the US. | Eyewitness video of the 2015 shooting captured the moment that Slager opened fire on Scott as he ran away from the officer with his back turned. The footage commanded international attention and was cited by members of the Black Lives Matter movement as among the clearest evidence of the fatal consequences of racially biased policing in the US. |
| Slager had long argued the shooting was justified as he feared for his life before opening fire and believed Scott had grabbed his Taser during a scuffle that was not fully captured on the video. But in Tuesday’s statement, Slager offered his first admission of wrongdoing. | Slager had long argued the shooting was justified as he feared for his life before opening fire and believed Scott had grabbed his Taser during a scuffle that was not fully captured on the video. But in Tuesday’s statement, Slager offered his first admission of wrongdoing. |
| “We hope that Michael’s acceptance of responsibility will help the Scott family as they continue to grieve their loss,” Slager’s lawyer, Andrew Savage, said. | “We hope that Michael’s acceptance of responsibility will help the Scott family as they continue to grieve their loss,” Slager’s lawyer, Andrew Savage, said. |
| The Associated Press reported on Tuesday morning it had seen a copy of Slager’s plea agreement, which purportedly showed that prosecutors in a separate state case are dropping a pending murder charge against the former officer. In December last year a state jury failed to return a unanimous verdict in Slager’s murder trial, resulting in a mistrial. Prosecutors had pledged to retry him. | The Associated Press reported on Tuesday morning it had seen a copy of Slager’s plea agreement, which purportedly showed that prosecutors in a separate state case are dropping a pending murder charge against the former officer. In December last year a state jury failed to return a unanimous verdict in Slager’s murder trial, resulting in a mistrial. Prosecutors had pledged to retry him. |
| A spokesman for the Scott family said they planned to address the media after the hearing. |