Politics

Black Motorist’s Fatal Shooting: Outcry Over Police Tactics

Published

11 years ago

April 10, 2015

In this April 4, 2015, frame from dashboard video provided by the North Charleston Police Department, Patrolman Michael Thomas Slager stands by Walter Lamer Scott’s car during a traffic stop in North Charleston, S.C. The video captures the moments leading up to a fatal shooting that has sparked outrage as the latest example of a white police officer killing an unarmed black man. Slager has been fired and charged with murder. (AP Photo/North Charleston Police Department)

JEFFREY COLLINS, Associated Press
MITCH WEISS, Associated Press

NORTH CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) — As its population surged in the last decade, South Carolina’s third-largest city fought rising crime through aggressive policing. But North Charleston’s police department lost the respect of many black residents in neighborhoods they blitzed, and now many are upset after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black motorist by a white officer.

Police in North Charleston used computers to track the neighborhoods where crime was on the rise, then sent waves of officers to patrol and conduct traffic stops, looking for offenders and letting drivers know they were cracking down. By the numbers, the tactics worked: every major category of crime, from murder to burglary to robbery to rape all fell significantly from 2007 to 2012, the last year for which statistics are available.

But anger is surfacing as civil rights leaders are demanding a full U.S. Justice Department investigation of the North Charleston force. The fatal shooting of Walter Scott as he fled after a traffic stop Saturday stirred outrage around the U.S., but people in North Charleston said they weren’t surprised.

“If the image of the city is more important than the lives of their citizens, there is going to be a problem,” said Dot Scott, president of the Charleston branch of the NAACP civil rights group. She’s unrelated to the slain motorist.

The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a parallel investigation with a local prosecutor into whether there were civil rights violations in the killing of Walter Scott. The NAACP would like that expanded to a full probe of whether racism and lack of respect for civil rights is pervasive through the entire department — similar to the federal agency’s probe after the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old unarmed black man by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

With just over 100,000 people, North Charleston grew by nearly 16,500 people or about 20 percent from 2000 to 2010. More than half of its residents are minorities, mostly African-Americans. About 28 percent of its families make less than $25,000 a year.

For years, it battled an economic slump caused by the mid-1990s closing of the Charleston Naval Base on the city’s waterfront. For decades, city fortunes were tied to the base, where 38,000 people worked in the late 1980s.

But the city had plenty of land and proximity to next door Charleston, an affluent city popular with tourists. North Charleston has since bounced back, largely because of a huge investment by Boeing, which has a 787 aircraft manufacturing plant in the city.

Now North Charleston reaches from upscale subdivisions of $700,000 homes near the banks of the Ashley River to the older, impoverished black neighborhoods near the old naval base.

And those poor and black residents have learned to band together and be cautious around a police force that is nearly 80 percent white. Several residents around the city this week told the same story about what they do when an officer turns on the lights to pull them over. They said they immediately call a friend to see if they are nearby and can walk over to be a witness to a traffic stop. If no one is close, the phone is kept on so the person on the other end can listen, just in case.

Blacks were routinely putting their hands in the air when police confronted them for years before “Hands up, Don’t shoot” became a slogan in the wake of the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, said 25-year-old Robert Blanton.

He said he has been stopped plenty of times for simply walking around his neighborhood after dark.

“I wonder — do they do that to whites walking in their neighborhood?” Blanton said.

The police department has refused to talk about its crime-fighting strategies since Scott was killed and officer Michael Slager was charged with murder, saying they want to wait until after Scott’s funeral on Saturday out of respect for his family.

But in a 2012 article in The Post and Courier of Charleston, then-Police Chief Jon Zumalt justified his more aggressive approach by saying it ensured people were obeying the law. And even if traffic stops didn’t lead to arrests, it got the word out that North Charleston was serious about fighting crime, he told the newspaper, which reported traffic stops in the city increased by about 3,000 to nearly 64,000 in 2011.

Numbers gathered by the state back that up. North Charleston had 26 murders in 2007 and 13 murders in 2012. The number of robberies in that five-year span fell 66 percent, while the number of burglaries dropped 29 percent.

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2025 in Review: Seven Questions for Assemblymember Lori Wilson — Advocate for Equity, the Environment, and More

Her rise has also included several historic firsts: she is the only Black woman ever appointed to lead the influential Assembly Transportation Committee, and the first freshman legislator elected Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. She has also been a vocal advocate for vulnerable communities, becoming the first California legislator to publicly discuss being the parent of a transgender child — an act of visibility that has helped advanced representation at a time when political tensions related to social issues and culture have intensified.

Published

2 days ago

December 29, 2025

Oakland Post

Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City). File photo.

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City) joined the California Legislature in 2022 after making history as Solano County’s first Black female mayor, bringing with her a track record of fiscal discipline, community investment, and inclusive leadership.

She represents the state’s 11th Assembly District, which spans Solano County and portions of Contra Costa and Sacramento Counties.

California Black Media spoke with Wilson about her successes and disappointments this year and her outlook for 2026.

What stands out as your most important achievement this year?

Getting SB 237 passed in the Assembly. I had the opportunity to co-lead a diverse workgroup of colleagues, spanning a wide range of ideological perspectives on environmental issues.

How did your leadership contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians this year?

The Black Caucus concentrated on the Road to Repair package and prioritized passing a crucial bill that remained incomplete during my time as chair, which establishes a process for identifying descendants of enslaved people for benefit eligibility.

What frustrated you the most this year?

The lack of progress made on getting Prop 4 funds allocated to socially disadvantaged farmers. This delay has real consequences. These farmers have been waiting for essential support that was promised. Watching the process stall, despite the clear need and clear intent of the voters, has been deeply frustrating and reinforces how much work remains to make our systems more responsive and equitable.

What inspired you the most this year?

The resilience of Californians persists despite the unprecedented attacks from the federal government. Watching people stay engaged, hopeful, and determined reminded me why this work matters and why we must continue to protect the rights of every community in our state.

What is one lesson you learned this year that will inform your decision-making next year?

As a legislator, I have the authority to demand answers to my questions — and accept nothing less. That clarity has strengthened my approach to oversight and accountability.

In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians are facing currently?

Affordability and access to quality educational opportunities.

What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2026?

Advance my legislative agenda despite a complex budget environment. The needs across our communities are real, and even in a tight fiscal year, I’m committed to moving forward policies that strengthen safety, expand opportunity, and improve quality of life for the people I represent.

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2025 in Review: Seven Questions for Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, Champion of Reparations, Housing and Workers’ Rights

In 2025, McKinnor pushed forward legislation on renters’ protections, re-entry programs, reparations legislation, and efforts to support Inglewood Unified School District. She spoke with California Black Media about the past year and her work. Here are her responses.

Published

2 days ago

December 29, 2025

Oakland Post

Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood). File photo.

By Joe W. Bowers Jr., California Black Media

Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) represents

California’s 61st Assembly District.

As a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC),

McKinnor was elected in 2022. She chairs the Los Angeles County Legislative Delegation and leads the Assembly Public Employment and Retirement Committee. McKinnor also served as a civic engagement director, managed political campaigns, and worked as chief of staff for former Assemblymembers Steven Bradford and Autumn Burke.

Looking back on 2025, what do you see as your biggest win?

Assembly Bill (AB) 628. If rent is $3,000, people should at least have a stove and a refrigerator. It’s ridiculous that people were renting without basic appliances.

I’m also proud that I was able to secure $8.4 million in the state budget for people coming home from incarceration. That includes the Homecoming Project, the menopause program for incarcerated women, and the Justice Leaders Program.

How did your leadership help make life better for Black Californians this year?

After the Eaton Fire, I pushed to get the same kind of support for affected areas that wealthier regions get after disasters.

I also did a lot of work building political power— establishing the Black Legacy PAC and California for All of Us PAC so we could support Black candidates and educate voters. We also called voters to make sure they understood Prop 50.

People need to understand this: there are only 12 Black legislators in the Capitol. Folks act like we can just walk in and pass reparations, but that’s not how it works.

What frustrated you most this year?

The governor did not have the political will to sign these bills: AB 57 and AB 62. They both passed overwhelmingly in the Assembly and the Senate. We did the work. The only person who didn’t have the political will to sign them was the governor.

The public needs to ask the governor why he didn’t sign the bills. We can’t keep letting people off the hook. He has to answer.

I also introduced AB 51 — the bill to eliminate interest payments on Inglewood Unified School District’s long-standing state loan — held in the Appropriations Committee. That was frustrating,

What inspired you most in 2025?

The civil rights trip to Alabama was life changing. We visited the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. We took members of the Black, Latino, Jewish, and API caucuses with us. It changed all of us.

People aren’t always against us — they just don’t know our history.

What’s one lesson from 2025 that will shape how you approach decisions next year?

The legislative trip to Norway taught me that collaboration matters. Government, labor, and industry sit down together there. They don’t make villains. Everybody doesn’t get everything they want, but they solve problems.

What’s the biggest challenge facing Black Californians in one word?

Inequity. It shows up in housing, wealth, stress – all these things.

What’s the number one goal you want to accomplish in 2026?

Bringing back AB 57 and AB 62, and securing money for the Inglewood Unified loan interest forgiveness.

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2025 in Review: Seven Questions for Sen. Laura Richardson, Who Made Legislative History This Year

Before elected office, she served as a legislative staffer at the local, state, and federal levels and built a strong academic foundation, earning a political science degree from UCLA and an MBA from USC.

Published

2 days ago

December 29, 2025

Oakland Post

Sen. Laura Richardson (D-San Pedro). File photo.

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

Elected in November 2024 to represent California’s 35th Senate District, Sen. Laura Richardson (D-San Pedro) brings decades of experience to her role.

Richardson says she remains deeply committed to empowering residents, strengthening neighborhoods, and supporting the local economy.

For example, SB 748, a bill she authored that Gov. Newsom signed into law this year, allows cities to use existing homelessness funds to clear unsafe RV encampments, and another measure aimed at expanding provider access for Medi-Cal patients.

California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Richardson about her successes and disappointments over the past year and her plans for 2026.

What stands out as your most important achievement this year?

Being number one in getting the most bills signed by a freshman senator. Our team and staff were able to effectively move legislation through committees in both the Senate and Assembly and gain the governor’s support.

How did your leadership contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians?

Securing overall agency support from the governor to begin the work of understanding and documenting descendants of slavery. The discussion around “40 acres and a mule” will be ongoing for many years, but moving forward with creating an agency—although not fully funded—was significant. They were baby steps, but they were steps.

What frustrated you the most this year?

The administration. Even though federal and state roles differ, California has its own values and priorities. When the federal government makes cuts that impact Californians, the state legislature feels the need to backfill to protect people. It was challenging and frustrating.

What inspired you the most this year?

SB 237, which I was a joint principal author on, inspired me. It dealt with fuel stability. Two refineries closed, and several others are barely hanging on. Even as we work toward zero emissions, we still need a certain amount of fuel. SB 237 opened up some of the fuel potential in Kern County, and there’s a pipeline from Kern County down to my district.

What is one lesson you learned this year that will inform your decision-making next year?

Engage the governor’s staff earlier. I’m going to push to involve the governor’s legislative staff sooner.

In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians are facing right now?

Affordability. No matter how much you make, everything is more expensive—gas, groceries, insurance, mortgages. Costs keep rising while salaries don’t.

What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2026?

Creating a process for dealing with abandoned cemeteries.

The last piece—not specific to this year but building toward the future—is figuring out how people and businesses in the district and in California can participate in major events like the Olympics, FIFA, and the Super Bowl, all of which are taking place here.