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Former South Carolina officer pleads guilty in Walter Scott killing Former South Carolina officer pleads guilty in Walter Scott killing
(about 1 hour 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. Former South Carolina police officer Michael Slager has pleaded guilty to using excessive force in the 2015 fatal shooting of unarmed black man Walter Scott and now faces the possibility of life in prison.
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. The 35-year-old former officer, who is white, was taken into custody after a hearing at a federal courthouse in Charleston, South Carolina, on Tuesday. He will be sentenced at a later date.
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. The plea marks an extraordinary turnaround in the case, which commanded international attention after the release of eyewitness video. Slager had protested his innocence for over two years and argued in a separate trial that he shot Scott to defend his own life.
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. Video of the April 2015 incident captured the moment that Slager shot Scott five times from behind as he fled a traffic stop. The footage 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.
“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. A state murder trial ended last year with a hung jury and prosecutors vowed to retry the former North Charleston police officer. But Tuesday’s guilty plea in the separate federal civil rights case also brings the state case to a close. The plea means Slager avoids other federal charges of obstructing justice and using a firearm to commit a crime.
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 judge will now decide the sentencing, with a broad range of sentences on the table under the federal civil rights statute Slager admits to have violated – up to and including life imprisonment.
“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 in a statement before the officer entered his plea.
A spokesman for the Scott family said they planned to address the media after the hearing. The Scott family were due to address reporters after the hearing on Tuesday afternoon.
“The Department of Justice will hold accountable any law enforcement officer who violates the civil rights of our citizens by using excessive force,” said the US attorney general, Jeff Sessions, in a statement. “Such failures of duty not only harm the individual victims of these crimes; they harm our country, by eroding trust in law enforcement and undermining the good work of the vast majority of honorable and honest police officers.”
The conviction comes at a time of significant upheaval at the US justice department after Sessions, a staunch supporter of law enforcement, pledged to review a series of Obama-era court agreements with local police departments around the US, many of which were agreed after the high-profile deaths of black citizens at the hands of officers.
Scott’s death came within a year of unarmed teenager Michael Brown’s shooting by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, which prompted a nationwide discussion about race and policing after sustained protests and rioting broke out in the city. The South Carolina shooting also occurred the same month as the death in custody of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, which also led to significant protests in the city.
“Our hearts are with the Scott family today,” said the South Carolina US attorney Beth Drake. “They have persevered in their quest for justice for their loved one, and I hope that today brings them a measure of closure.”