NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, April 9, 2015, 11:57 AM
Updated: Thursday, April 9, 2015, 3:54 PM
Walter Scott lies motionless in handcuffs without being given proper medical treatment by Officer Michael Slager.
The family of South Carolina police shooting victim Walter Scott is preparing to hit the killer cop and his department where it hurts — in the wallet.
“We will seek every penny of compensation that the family deserves,” state Rep. Justin Bamberg, who is representing the Scott family as a lawyer, told the Daily News on Thursday. “People in society are fed up with people getting away with things like this, fed up with law enforcement abusing the power that they have.”
The Scott family also intends to sue the North Charleston Police Department, which fired Office Michael Slager after cellphone footage surfaced showing him fatally shooting a fleeing Scott in the back, Bamberg said.
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“There are still a lot of questions about what transpired especially concerning the other officers,” the rep said. “We are seeing hear no evil, see no evil.”
South Carolina police Officer Michael Slager (left) fatally shot Walter Scott (right), in the back while he ran away on April 4.
Bamberg also said the video, which resulted in Slager being arrested Tuesday and charged with murder, clearly shows him trying to cover up the crime by dropping an object beside Scott’s dead body.
“It is our firm belief that the officer planted that Taser besides him,” he said.
Slager, 33, a six-year veteran of the North Charleston police, is in jail and being investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
His speedy arrest was hailed by Scott supporters and there was no outbreak of the kind of violence that rocked Ferguson, Mo., after black teenager Michael Brown was killed by a white police officer.
Rodney Scott talks about the shooting death of his brother Walter Scott on Thursday in North Charleston, S.C.
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Anthony Scott talks about the shooting death of his brother Walter Scott on Thursday in North Charleston, S.C.
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Rodney Scott, left, and Anthony Scott, right, on Thursday talk about the shooting death of their brother Walter Scott in North Charleston, S.C.
Scott was a 50-year-old father of four who had served in the U.S. Coast Guard and had no history of violent crimes, although he had been jailed three times — most recently in 2012 — for failing to pay child support.
Bamberg’s announcement came as another black man came forward with claims that he was attacked and arrested by the white cop for no reason in 2013.
Mario Givens said Scott might still be alive if cops had cracked down on Slager when he filed his excessive force complaint.
“It could have been prevented,” Givens, 33, of North Charleston, told The Associated Press. “If they had just listened to me and investigated what happened that night, this man might be alive today.”
Givens says Slager showed up at his house before dawn one September morning and banged on the door. Wearing only a T-shirt and boxers, Givens said he opened and found Slager on his porch.
"He said he wanted to come in, but didn't say why," Givens said. "He never said who he was looking for."
Slager then burst into the house, threatening to use his Taser, Givens said.
Givens said he did not resist, but Slager zapped him anyway in the stomach with the stun gun. He said that as he called out for his mother, Slager dragged him outside and he was thrown to the ground by another officer who then cuffed him and put him in the back of the squad car.
Walter Scott (left) and his brothers Anthony (center) and Rodney (right) are pictured in 2003.
Givens said he was accused but never charged with resisting arrest and was eventually released. He said he later learned the cops had showed up at his house looking for his brother Matthew, whose ex-girlfriend had reported him for an alleged home invasion.
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The woman, Maleah Kiara Brown, says she was watching when the officers attacked Givens.
"He looked nothing like the description I gave the officers," Brown said of Givens. "He asked the officer why he was at the house. He did it nicely. The police officer said he wanted him to step outside. Then he asked, 'Why, why do you want me to step outside?' Then the officer barged inside and grabbed him."
Brown says the officers ignored her yelling that they had the wrong man. She said Slager was "cocky" and wouldn't say why he used his Taser.
Neighbors said police refused to take their statements on what they witnessed.
Givens says he filed a complaint at police headquarters the next day. Slager was exonerated a few weeks later.
"They never told me how they reached the conclusion. Never," Givens said. "They never contacted anyone from that night. No one from the neighborhood."
Chasyn Carter (right) of North Charleston, S.C., embraces Candice Ancrum, of Summerville, S.C., during a candlelight vigil outside city hall protesting the shooting death of Walter Scott.
In the report Slager filed with his other officer, he said he feared Givens had a weapon, and he was worried about the man fleeing.
Scott’s brother, Anthony, 52, told The News that Givens’ account left him even more anguished.
“It's a tragedy,” he said. “If they would have listened to that young man my brother would still be alive today.”
Anthony Scott said what happened to his brother transcends race.
“It’s not a black thing, it’s not a white thing,” he said. “It’s a people thing.”
Slager’s fatal encounter with Scott began at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
A graduate of a South Jersey high school, Slager told his superiors he stopped Scott for a broken brake light. He claimed he opened fire after struggling with Scott and after the victim ran off with his Taser.
But video footage shot by a passersby told a different story.
The video, captured by a witness, was recorded on Sunday and shows Walter Victim being shot multiple times as he ran away from officer Michael Slager.
It showed Scott running away and at least 15 feet from Slager when the officer fired the first of eight shots — four of which struck him in the back and one of which hit him in the ear.
“Shots fired,” Slager said into his radio before cuffing Scott, who was facedown in the grass and not moving.
The video then showed Slager retrieving something that looks like a stun gun and dropping it beside Scott’s body.
Scott’s 48-year-old brother, Rodney, told The News earlier that Slager “was using my brother for target practice.” He said he doesn’t believe Slager’s excuse for stopping Scott because his brother was meticulous about maintaining his vehicle out of fear of being harassed by cops.
Demonstators rally outside North Charleston City Hall following the killing of an unarmed black man shown on video running from the police.
Dozens of demonstrators descended on North Charleston’s City Hall in the aftermath of the killing and staged noisy but violence-free demonstrations.
While Mayor Keith Summey and other city officials expressed sympathy, Councilman Bobby Jameson slammed the protests as a “show that they want to put on to the black community across the nation.”
“The NAACP and those people make it look like, to the rest of the black community, that you are doing something by screaming 'Justice, Justice, Justice,’” he told NBC. “Well, a man's already been charged with murder. What more justice do you want?”
Summey quickly distanced the city from Jameson’s crack.
“The City & @MayorSummey wholeheartedly disagree w/comments of Councilman Jameson,” the city tweeted. “His views are not reflective of our beliefs. #walterscott.”
Matthew Lysiak reported from North Charleston, S.C.
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