S.C. agency keeps announcement of cop’s murder charge brief

The South Carolina state agency has offered few details about the murder charges it filed against North Charleston police officer Michael Thomas Slager after video emerged of Slager shooting a fleeing man.

The Tuesday press release issued by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is five sentences long, giving Slager’s name and age (33), the charge against him, the penalties for murder, where he was booked, and which office will prosecute the case. That’s about it. It does include a copy of the arrest warrant and the affidavit signed by the agent who arrested Slager.

The man who was shot and killed was Walter L. Scott, a 50-year-old black man. His death has drawn comparisons to the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York. Officers were not charged in either of those cases.