CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP, WLTX) - A white former South Carolina police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist who was running away now faces federal civil rights charges.
An indictment unsealed Wednesday shows that Michael Slager is charged with violating Walter Scott's civil rights.
"[Slager] shot Walter Scott without legal justification, willfully depriving him of the right, secured and protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States, to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a law enforcement officer," the grand jury wrote in their indictment.
He's also charged with obstruction of justice and unlawful use of a weapon during the commission of a crime.
Slager faces state murder charges in the April 2015 shooting of Scott after a traffic stop in North Charleston. Slager has said from the beginning that he killed Scott because he feared for his life. But a video recorded on a cell phone of the incident seemed to contradict that version of events, and Wednesday's indictment accuses Slager of lying to investigators.
"...Slager knowingly misled SLED investigators by falsely stating that he fired his weapon at Scott while Scott was coming forward at him with a Taser," the indictment states. "In truth and in fact, as defendant Michael Slager well knew, he (Slager) repeatedly fired his weapon at Scott when Scott was running away from him."
Slager's state trial is scheduled for trial in October. Prosecutors have asked that the trial be held before or after the trial of the man accused of shooting nine people to death at a black church in Charleston last summer.
Last fall, North Charleston approved a $6.5 million civil settlement with Scott's family.
