Former Cop Indicted for Killing Walter Scott

The Huffington Post reports that:

A grand jury has indicted a former South Carolina police officer in the April shooting of an unarmed black man, the prosecutor announced on Monday.

Former North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager, 33, has been charged with murder in the death of Walter Scott, 50.

"I think the people of the 9th circuit elected me to be accountable to them, and that’s what we intend to do," Charleston County Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said during a news conference following the announcement of the indictment Monday. "They have to know they have someone prosecuting the case who is accountable to them."

"We’re going to patiently wait for the criminal trial in this case,” Chris Stewart, one of the attorneys for the Scott family, said in a brief press conference. “It’s just about keeping the faith. The community has done that. The family has done that, and we’re going to continue to do that until the resolution of the criminal and the civil case."

Stewart thanked the community and noted the family plans to file a civil suit in the next few months.

Good morning, family. This is only the beginning. Justice for Walter Scott and everybody else.

#WalterScott: We Must Protect Witness Feidin Santana

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Feidin Santana is a hero. He videotaped former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager shooting and killing Walter Scott. If it was not for Mr. Santana, Officer Slager, like so many other white police officers, would have gotten away with murdering another unarmed black man.  Often, the word of a white police officer is accepted as the gospel truth. Unfortunately, the black victim is demonized, condemned and convicted.  Sadly, the cop is praised and honored for killing a black man. Right wing nuts even raise funds for these killers.

Hopefully, thanks to Mr. Santana, there will be justice for Walter Scott. Heroes like Mr. Santana deserve our support and protection. We should organize fundraisers for Walter Scott and Feidin Santana. Legal civil rights organizations should offer to provide pro bono legal assistance. Black organizations like the Nation of Islam should offer to provide security for Mr. Santana. We should not allow the police or anyone else to harass, threaten, jail or harm Mr. Santana. That is exactly what happened to Ramsey Orta, another witness who videotaped another incident of police brutality.

For example, the Daily Beast reports that:

The amateur videographer [Ramsey Orta] has stated he’s being targeted by law enforcement after his July 2014 footage of a policeman putting [Eric] Garner in a deadly chokehold went viral, becoming a high-profile example of controversial police tactics. The Garner death, and a subsequent grand jury decision not to indict the officer involved, became a flashpoint for New York City and set off massive protests in December of last year. Orta claims that officers have been stalking and arresting him in retaliation for the video ever since it became public.

We cannot allow this to happen. Stand up, brothers and sisters.