*Requests to release Michael Slager – the former South Carolina police officer who shot and killed Walter Scott – on bond have officially been denied.
Referencing court documents, NBC News reports that Judge Clifton Newman denied Slager’s petition on Monday (Sept. 14). Slager’s request for bond was motivated under claims that he wanted to see his son and that he was “not a flight risk.”
The denial of Slager’s bond comes months after Slager was indicted for killing Scott in June. On April 4, Slager chased the unarmed 50-year-old after a traffic stop. Although Slager claimed Scott tried to take his taser, footage of the incident shot by a bystander turned up three days later, countering the 33 year-old ex-lawman’s version of what happened. In the footage, Slager is seen chasing Scott and ending his life with shooting him eight times.
Speaking on his reasons behind denying Slager’s bond, Newman labeled the prosecutor’s evidence against Slager to be “persuasive.”
While Newman mentioned that Slager’s release would “constitute an unreasonable danger to the community,“ Slager’s lawyer shared a different opinion as he claimed his client is “no risk of danger.”
Despite Slager’s bond being denied, Scott’s brother Anthony pointed out that the judge’s decision is nothing to celebrate.
“There are no winners or losers when one man has lost his life at the hands of another,” he said as he regarded the denial as a sign of hope for better things to come. “Our family respects the judge’s decision to deny bond for Michael Slager. We trust in God and our prayer is that something like this never happens again to any family, anywhere.”
