Michael Slager, the former North Charleston police officer who sparked nationwide outrage after being caught on a bystander’s camera shooting Walter Scott as he fled, had his $500,000 bail posted around 5:30 p.m. and was released shortly after.
Slager has been imprisoned on murder charges since three days after the shooting on April 4. In September, the judge ruled that Slager was a flight risk and a danger to the community when his bail was denied.
Circuit Judge Clifton Newman cited an order from the Supreme Court that cleared prosecutors from working on any other cases before Dylann Roof’s trial this summer. Due to the order, Slager’s trial had to be set for October 31, and the judge felt that such long pre-trial confinement was punishment before he was found guilty.
“I don’t think Mr. Slager had any remorse after watching that video,” Scott’s father Walter Scott Sr. pleaded with the court before the decision was announced. “Every time I look at it, it makes me cry…. I feel he should stay where he’s at so he could feel the pain I feel.”
Scott’s family reportedly gasped as Slager’s family cried in the courtroom as the judge announced their decision to grant bail.
