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Mourning Walter Scott: 'Rather than duck, the mayor stood up', Sharpton says | |
(35 minutes later) | |
The Reverend Al Sharpton on Sunday thanked the mayor and police chief in North Charleston, South Carolina, for their response to the shooting of Walter Scott. | The Reverend Al Sharpton on Sunday thanked the mayor and police chief in North Charleston, South Carolina, for their response to the shooting of Walter Scott. |
“Rather than duck, the mayor stood up,” Sharpton said of Mayor Keith Summey, who attended Sunday’s service at a local church where Sharpton spoke, with police chief Eddie Driggers. | |
“Maybe now, between a Southern white mayor and a forgiving black mother, maybe this nation will deal with this.” | |
Sharpton appeared at Charity Missionary Baptist Church. Referring to similar recent cases across the US, he said it seemed providential that “way down in South Carolina, where we are still protesting the Confederate flag, that in the Deep South, a mayor and police chief did what we couldn’t get mayors in the North and the Midwest to do”. | |
Scott was fatally shot after fleeing a traffic stop on 4 April. Former officer Michael Slager initially said Scott was shot after a tussle over his Taser but witness video surfaced showing Scott being shot as he ran away. Slager is charged with murder. | Scott was fatally shot after fleeing a traffic stop on 4 April. Former officer Michael Slager initially said Scott was shot after a tussle over his Taser but witness video surfaced showing Scott being shot as he ran away. Slager is charged with murder. |
Sharpton said officers who had turned in false reports should not expect superiors to cover for them, regardless of race. | |
“If you lie, you go where liars go,” he said. “It’s not about white cop, black cop. It’s not about black and white. It’s about right and wrong.” | |
Scott’s death was criticised as another police shooting of an unarmed black man, but citizens have also suggested abuse of authority and public trust as factors in the shooting. | |
Scott, a father of four and US Coast Guard veteran, was driving a 1991 Mercedes that he bought from a neighbor and was headed to an auto parts store when he was stopped, his brother Rodney Scott said. | Scott, a father of four and US Coast Guard veteran, was driving a 1991 Mercedes that he bought from a neighbor and was headed to an auto parts store when he was stopped, his brother Rodney Scott said. |
Related: ‘The flag of white supremacy still flies on our State House. We’re stuck in the past’ | Related: ‘The flag of white supremacy still flies on our State House. We’re stuck in the past’ |
Police said he had a broken tail light. Video from the police car’s dashboard camera shows Slager asking Scott for his license and registration, then heading back to his cruiser before Scott gets out of the car and runs. | Police said he had a broken tail light. Video from the police car’s dashboard camera shows Slager asking Scott for his license and registration, then heading back to his cruiser before Scott gets out of the car and runs. |
Scott’s relatives have said they suspect he fled Slager out of fear of being jailed again over missed child support payments. At the time he was stopped, Scott, who worked as a warehouse forklift operator, owed more than $18,000 in child support and court fees, according to Charleston County records. | Scott’s relatives have said they suspect he fled Slager out of fear of being jailed again over missed child support payments. At the time he was stopped, Scott, who worked as a warehouse forklift operator, owed more than $18,000 in child support and court fees, according to Charleston County records. |
About 450 people, including Republican senator Tim Scott and Democratic congressman Jim Clyburn, the two black members of South Carolina’s congressional delegation, gathered in the sanctuary of Word Ministries Christian Center – the church where Scott had worshipped – for his funeral on Saturday. | |
Clyburn said he hoped some good could come from the tragedy. | Clyburn said he hoped some good could come from the tragedy. |
“I think this is a catalyst to get people to face up to the fact that we’ve got problems in this country,” he said. “I think this exposed something that is already there.” Clyburn also said there need to be minimum standards, perhaps national standards, for evaluating law officers. | “I think this is a catalyst to get people to face up to the fact that we’ve got problems in this country,” he said. “I think this exposed something that is already there.” Clyburn also said there need to be minimum standards, perhaps national standards, for evaluating law officers. |
“All of us have seen the video,” the Reverend George Hamilton, the minister at Word Ministries, told an overflow congregation. “There is no doubt in my mind and I feel that Walter’s death was motivated by racial prejudice.” | “All of us have seen the video,” the Reverend George Hamilton, the minister at Word Ministries, told an overflow congregation. “There is no doubt in my mind and I feel that Walter’s death was motivated by racial prejudice.” |
Authorities have not said whether race was a factor in the shooting. | Authorities have not said whether race was a factor in the shooting. |
“We will not indict the entire law enforcement community for the act of one racist,” the minister said. | “We will not indict the entire law enforcement community for the act of one racist,” the minister said. |
After the funeral, Scott family attorney Chris Stewart said the pain behind the shooting would have hurt a family of any background. | After the funeral, Scott family attorney Chris Stewart said the pain behind the shooting would have hurt a family of any background. |
“The epidemic of powerless people being taken advantage of no matter what color, no matter what gender, no matter what belief system you have, needs to stop,” he said. “We’re not going to let this case boil down to just racial issues, because it’s bigger than that. It’s a human issue.” | “The epidemic of powerless people being taken advantage of no matter what color, no matter what gender, no matter what belief system you have, needs to stop,” he said. “We’re not going to let this case boil down to just racial issues, because it’s bigger than that. It’s a human issue.” |
About 200 additional people waited outside during Scott’s funeral beneath the portico of the church or under umbrellas in the rain because the sanctuary had reached capacity. Those who waited outside were able to enter at the end of the service and file by Scott’s open casket – covered in an American flag and surrounded with sprays of flowers. | About 200 additional people waited outside during Scott’s funeral beneath the portico of the church or under umbrellas in the rain because the sanctuary had reached capacity. Those who waited outside were able to enter at the end of the service and file by Scott’s open casket – covered in an American flag and surrounded with sprays of flowers. |
Those who knew Scott remembered him as lighthearted and gentle. They describe a laid-back, fun-loving man who took his girlfriend dancing on weekends. | Those who knew Scott remembered him as lighthearted and gentle. They describe a laid-back, fun-loving man who took his girlfriend dancing on weekends. |
Scott had been married twice, and proposed to his girlfriend Charlotte Jones about a week before he was killed. | Scott had been married twice, and proposed to his girlfriend Charlotte Jones about a week before he was killed. |
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