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What if We Didn't Have Video?

By Clarence Page, Tribune Content Agency on

Once again, what a difference a video makes.

As soon as I saw the cellphone video of the fatal shooting of Walter Scott by Officer Michael Slager of the North Charleston Police Department in South Carolina, I wondered how the apologists for police misconduct were going to spin this one.

The universal presence of cellphone cameras and Twitter-age activism has produced a string of tragic racially tinged and often video-recorded controversies across the country, further enflamed by 24/7 chatter about who and where to place blame.

The talk show debates sound like a broken record. One side suspects a wave of police oppression aimed at young black men. The other side counters by changing the subject: "Why don't you talk more about the collapse of the black family?" Meanwhile, more people die and trust in law enforcement further erodes.

Against that backdrop, Walter Scott's death looks like everyone's worst nightmare of police misconduct, all caught on video.

Had there not been a cellphone video, shot by bystander Feidin Santana, we would only have Officer Slager's version of events, which he gave over his radio at the scene. Slager maintained he shot Scott, 50, after Scott tried to wrestle away his Taser during a routine traffic stop.

 

But after Scott's family gave Santana's video to The New York Times, a very different narrative unfolded. Santana's video shows the two men tussling, apparently moments after Slager fired his Taser at Scott. An object that may be the Taser falls to the ground and Scott turns to run away.

When Scott's about 15 feet to 20 feet away, the Officer Slager fires eight times. Scott falls to the ground.

Slager later picks up what could be the Taser and drops it near Scott's body.

A second video from a police dashboard camera raises more questions about the traffic stop. It shows a calm conversation between the two men; then, as the officer walks back to his car with Scott's license, Scott suddenly bolts out of his car and runs away, followed by Slager.

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(c) 2015 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

 

 

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