"Section 242 of Title 18 makes it a crime for a person acting under color of any law to willfully deprive a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. For the purpose of Section 242, acts under "color of law" include acts not only done by federal, state, or local officials within the their lawful authority, but also acts done beyond the bounds of that official's lawful authority, if the acts are done while the official is purporting to or pretending to act in the performance of his/her official duties. Persons acting under color of law within the meaning of this statute include police officers, prisons guards and other law enforcement officials, as well as judges, care providers in public health facilities, and others who are acting as public officials. It is not necessary that the crime be motivated by animus toward the race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin of the victim. The offense is punishable by a range of imprisonment up to a life term, or the death penalty, depending upon the circumstances of the crime, and the resulting injury, if any."
According to actor Isaiah Washington, Negroes should learn to "adopt" when being confronted or harassed by the police while trying to make it on a daily basis here in America.
He should tell that to Walter Scott....Oh wait, he can't; Walter Scott is dead.
He is dead because that police officer who pulled the trigger and took his life thought that he would be able to kill a human being without consequence. It's as if he was out hunting deer with his buddies.
He can thank a climate that has been created in this country that says it's cool to use deadly force against black men when acting under the color of law.
Elected local officials have contributed to this climate because the people who elect them more often or not view black men as dangerous predators.
The killing of Walter Scott was hard to watch, but it wasn't surprising. Seeing the actions of the black police officer (Clarence Habersham) who arrived on the scene soon after the killing was hard to watch as well, but, sadly, it was not surprising.
The officers said that they tried to give him CPR, but the video clearly shows that they did not.
The video showed a disturbing sequence of events even after the killing. This should be troubling to every person with a conscience who respects the rule of law.
That video has done a lot to vindicate the folks who have been saying all along that black lives do not matter to certain people. The same people who were so sure that Michael Brown deserved to be killed by Darren Wilson.
But it won't change much. This too shall pass.
Walter Scott will be buried. His family will get paid by the city. And the police officer who killed him will have his fate decided by the citizens of the community in which he lives.
America will move on to the next news story, and years from now we will be trying to remember if Walter Scott was just some guy who played in the NFL.
