Breaking Down 5 Lies of Officer Michael Slager In The Shooting Death of Walter Scott

Michael Slager murdering Walter Scott on the left; public mugshot on the right

Michael Slager murdering Walter Scott on the left; public mugshot on the right

By Shaun King

On April 4, North Charleston, South Carolina, Police Officer Michael Slager shot and killed Walter Scott. Seemingly unaware that he was being filmed, Slager, within seconds of shooting eight shots at the back of Scott, began spinning a web of lies to protect himself from the awful truth that he just executed a man in cold blood.

The Guardian did great work syncing up the police dispatch audio with the video taken by bystander Feidin Santana. It helps expose the lies better than any other video.

1. At 0:30 - 0:40, after firing eight shots at Walter Scott's back, Slager begins to calmly walk toward the body. As he walks, he radios in to dispatch, feigning that he is out of breath.

2. At 0:34 - 0:40 Slager begins to create the fake narrative that Walter Scott grabbed/took his Taser.

3. At 1:05 - 1:16, realizing that he has told dispatch that Walter Scott grabbed his Taser, Slager breaks protocol and leaves the body of Scott to run 30 feet away and grab his stun gun.

The New York Times provided a video of the shooting that helps best illustrate the next point, which can be found below.

4. At 1:27 - 1:42 in the Times video, with the stun gun in his right hand, in the presence of his partner, Clarence Habersham, Slager drops the stun gun next to the body of Walter Scott.

5. Viewing the official police reports, the New York Times states that officers claimed to have performed CPR on Walter Scott. No such thing happened in either of the above videos.