South Carolina

North Charleston Reacts To Police Killing Very Differently Than Ferguson

April 9, 2015 James Woods, www.dcmediagroup.us Educate! police brutality, Racial Justice, South Carolina

Last Saturday in North Charleston, South Carolina, a routine traffic stop ended in a police shooting, and the death of Walter Scott. Under normal circumstances there would have been nothing remarkable about Scott’s death. Local media spent the weekend recounting the incident as told by Officer Michael Slager via his attorney, who claimed that Slager shot Scott after the traffic stop “turned into a physical altercation.” As the weekend progressed, more local affiliates in the area reported and recounted the same story, with the police report of the incident the only piece of information to rely upon as “fact.” And then the amateur video hit the airwaves… Overnight, what had been another “unfortunate incident” became the biggest piece of news in America, and the national media descended upon North Charleston like a pack of locusts.

Protesters In SC Decry Police Shooting

April 9, 2015 BBC, www.bbc.com Resist! police brutality, Police the Police, South Carolina

Protests have been held in South Carolina over the fatal shooting of an unarmed man as he ran away from police. Officer Michael Slager was charged with murder and sacked after video emerged of him shooting Walter Scott multiple times in the back following a scuffle. He was arrested when authorities reviewed mobile phone video of the shooting, which took place on Saturday. The incident has been widely condemned, and the US Department of Justice and the FBI are investigating. Cries of "Black lives matter!" rang out as about 50 protesters joined local politicians outside City Hall in North Charleston on Wednesday morning. "We cannot sit still and be quiet anymore. This is our season to speak!" said one woman who commanded the crowd's attention.

Officer Charged With Murder After Shooting Man In Back

April 8, 2015 Oliver Laughland, www.theguardian.com Educate! police brutality, Police the Police, South Carolina

The North Charleston police chief, Eddie Driggers, said officer Slager, 33, had been arrested and charged with murder. Attorney L Chris Stewart, who came to North Charleston a day after the shooting to represent the family, said the video forced authorities to act quickly and decisively, and he called the person who made the video a hero. “What happened today doesn’t happen all the time,” Stewart told a news conference. “What if there was no video?” Scott’s mother stood nearby, saying, “Thank you, Lord” and “Hallelujah.” The family plans to file a civil rights suit against Slager, the department and the city, Stewart said. Anthony Scott said his late sibling served for two years in the US Coast Guard, that he was a father of four, and that he loved the Dallas Cowboys.

South Carolina Occupy Activists Settle With Governor For $192,000

February 21, 2014 Meg Kinnard, www.AP.org Resist! Occupy, South Carolina

A settlement has been reached this week in a lawsuit filed by Occupy Columbia protest members against Gov. Nikki Haley and other state officials. Attorneys for Haley and state law enforcement officials agreed during a mediation hearing Wednesday to pay Occupy members $192,000, Drew Radeker told The Associated Press. “It’s a fair settlement, and we’re glad that the state of South Carolina doesn’t have to continue to pay these lawyers to defend the case that we would have ultimately won anyway,” Radeker said. Other details about the deal were not released. It marks an end to a civil dispute that has been ongoing since Occupy Columbia launched its protest at the Statehouse grounds Oct. 15, 2011, part of a nationwide series of demonstrations against economic inequality. 19 protesters were arrested after Haley, in an effort to roust the protesters, said that anyone attempting to camp out on the Statehouse grounds after 6 p.m. would be arrested.

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