Friday’s Music break is late, but worth your time. When Walter Scott was first pulled over in North Charleston SC, much of the initial traffic stop was caught on the dash-cam of Police Officer Michael T. Slager. These dash-cams capture video and audio from inside the police car in addition to what transpires in the traffic stop.
The dash-cam video was released by the South Carolina authorities on Thursday, showing Walter Scott getting out of his car and running away after a traffic stop moments before he was killed by Officer Slager. As Slager drives up behind the green Mercedes-Benz driven by Scott, there’s a song playing in the background inside the police car. That song is “What It’s Like,” by Everlast:
Sample Lyrics:
We’ve all seen a man at the liquor store beggin’ for your change
The hair on his face is dirty, dread-locked, and full of mange
He asks a man for what he could spare, with shame in his eyes
“Get a job, you f*** slob, ” is all he replies
God forbid, you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes
‘Cause then you really might know what it’s like to sing the blues
It is the last song Walter Scott heard before being gunned down by a killer cop. For those of you who read the Wrongologist in email, you can see song on YouTube here.
Does this song playing in the background of the cop car tell us anything about patrolman Slager? Probably not. It was a #1 song in 1998 from an album that went double-platinum.
But the song’s message, of “Don’t Prejudge” means that it should be the anthem of an America that wants an end to police violence. We are a country where you are 55 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than a terrorist.
One reason is that many law enforcement officers consider failure to comply with the officers’ demands as an excuse for using lethal force. Police have become so militarized in modern America that we are gradually losing the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.
Cops need to make quick judgements. Everyone accepts that.
But, “What it’s Like” should become a part of their training.
Funny about this. Yes (to the angry white men who call in to Hannity) if this man did not run away nothing would have happened. But it is also true the white men who are poor run away from traffic stops. I once decided to fight a ticket (this was 23 years ago) so had may day in court. Mine was a simple case and I won, but what I saw before I had my little trial was 3 men who were pulled over on Rt 80 and who fled into the nearby woods. In the case of these three separate individuals, the flight happened before the cop got out of his car. Nonetheless, the cop did not then raise he weapon and fire. ….. So sure, obedience if the best choice, but we need to demilitarize the police. I was poor in the early 1980s (transitioning from trying to be an artists to insurance work) and one time went 6 months with a failed inspection. I simply could not afford the repair – which was ultimately a valve job. The poor never have the cash. The man was late on child payments – he was not a bad man, just a poor one, and no a dead one.