Michael Slager, who was fired by the North Charleston Police Department after last year’s killing of Walter Scott, was indicted on charges of violating civil rights laws, using a firearm in committing a crime of violence, and obstructing justice in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man.
“This is historic,” the Scott family’s lawyer, Chris Stewart, said afterward. “What happened today is that the federal government says it stops now. Police brutality stops now.”
Slager is white. Scott was black. And the message sent by the grand jury is not aimed at the good cops, Stewart said.
“This is a message to the ones who abuse people in this country,” he said.
In the aftermath of Scott’s death, police departments in South Carolina and across the U.S. are adopting body cameras and embracing reform, Stewart said.
“Walter Scott did not die in vain.” he said.
“It’s a bittersweet day,” added Scott’s brother, Anthony. “If it wasn’t for that video camera…. we would not be here today.”
Scott’s mother, Judy, said she thanks God that her son “was the one that was used to pull the cover off of all the violence.”
“I’m happy for that, but I’m sad because my son is gone,” she said. “I pray that other mothers won’t go through what I have been going through.”
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SOURCE: NBC News, by and
