US police refuse to release video of fatal shooting of black man

In February 2014, officer Justin Craven (L) fatally shot 68-year-old Ernest Satterwhite while he was in his car.

South Carolina State Police are steadfastly refusing to release a video which shows a white police officer fatally shot an old black man last year.

In February 2014, North Augusta officer Justin Craven chased 68-year-old Ernest Satterwhite over drunken driving for about nine miles which was followed by the shooting incident resulting in the black man’s death, the Associated Press reported.

Craven started chasing Satterwhite after he refused to stop. He followed the black man with blue lights to his home, according to a report from Edgefield County deputies who joined the chase after it crossed the county line.

The old man stopped in his driveway but the white officer ran up to his car and struck him several shots through a closed door. He later said to the police deputies that Satterwhite was trying to snatch his gun.

The officer would have to spend 10 years in prison if convicted. He faces charges of misconduct in office and firing his gun into an occupied vehicle.

A grand jury refused to accept a prosecutor’s indictment against Craven for voluntary manslaughter, a crime that will carry a maximum prison sentence of 30 years.

The video, which was seen by a few people outside of police, is said to be horrible and offensive. The people who saw the footage say the poor black man did not have any time to respond to the officer.

The viewers have been threatened with legal action should they speak on the record.

According to public records advocates, the police cannot refuse to release the video unless there is a good reason based on a 2011 court ruling.

The advocates asked why the police released another video showing a white officer shooting dead an unarmed black man in North Charleston last year, but they refused to release this one.

"That is totally unequal. Public records law needs to be applied the same in every case. Why do the police get to decide what the public sees? That's not their job," said Bill Rogers, executive director of the South Carolina Press Association.

The killing of several unarmed black men by white police officers in recent months in the US and decisions by grand juries not to indict the officers have triggered large-scale protests across the country.

AT/AGB


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