Cellphone video captured by ordinary citizens has given us visuals of several incidents that have gone viral while inducing national discussions in the process. Most notably, the heavily scrutinized Walter Scott case in North Charleston, S.C., in 2015. The unarmed Scott was fleeing (more like jogging) on foot when police officer Michael Slager shot him in the back.
“We have seen more indictments (of police officers) as a result of videos,” said panelist Chiraag Bains, an attorney who served in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice during the Obama administration.
Bains cited the Walter Scott case, which resulted in officer Slager being sentenced to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder. “Chances are if there wasn’t a video,” Bains said, “there probably wasn’t going to be a conviction.”
