Seeing the video last night of Walter Scott apparently being summarily executed by Patrolman 1st Class Michael Slager was shocking and horrifying. Even among RWNJs I have seen very little in the way of excuse-making on behalf of this cop (thank FSM!).
And there have already been a lot of electrons fired up over how the North Charleston PD was all set to buy Slager's story about how the shooting went down - Think Progress linked to stories from the local newspaper about it.
If it weren't for the video, presumably Slager would have gotten away with it.
There is one other thing to consider, I think: What if there was no video, and Walter Scott had survived?
There we would be, with competing "he says - he says" stories. The police department, the prosecutors, all the various legal institutions, would have sided with Slager immediately, just by virtue of his wearing the blue uniform.
Mr. Scott would have been jailed; Slager would have been praised.
Where would be the "presumption of innocence" under which our legal system is supposed to operate? Does anyone really think that a judge or jury would give equal weight to Mr. Scott's description of events?
And how many people every single day survive their encounters with law enforcement, but then find their words, their characters, the totality of their lives, are not enough to defend against the police version of events?
Does justice really just come down to luck, to whether a random citizen has the wits to pull out a smartphone and start recording it? Should we all start wearing Go-Pros, not to share our experiences but to lay the groundwork for defending ourselves?
Perhaps Chris Rock should mount two or three video cameras around his car. Just in case.