A horrifying video of Walter Scott, a black man who is the father of four children, being shot in the back as he flees a police officer is all over the nation’s airwaves and cable systems.  The officer who fired the shots has been charged with murder.  The New York Times reports:

The officer, Michael T. Slager, 33, said he had feared for his life because the man had taken his stun gun in a scuffle after a traffic stop on Saturday. A video, however, shows the officer firing eight times as the man, Walter L. Scott, 50, fled. The North Charleston mayor announced the state charges at a news conference Tuesday evening.

Scott reportedly was stopped for a broken tail light, hardly a violent offense, but he did have a history of law enforcement trouble.

Mr. Scott had been arrested about 10 times, mostly for failing to pay child support or show up for court hearings, according to The Post and Courier newspaper of Charleston. He was arrested in 1987 on an assault and battery charge and convicted in 1991 of possession of a bludgeon, the newspaper reported. Mr. Scott’s brother, Anthony, said he believed Mr. Scott had fled from the police on Saturday because he owed child support.

The video was released by lawyers for his family, who have a lawsuit in mind, obviously.  Speaking at a news conference, his brother Anthony was a model of decorum and thoughtfulness:

"I ask that everyone continue to pray for my family." said Anthony Scott, Walter Scott's brother. "We can't get my brother back and my family is in deep mourning for that, but through the process justice has been served."

The facts of the case have yet to be determined, but the video looks very, very bad, and the North Charleston Police have acted decisively:

After viewing the recording and examining other evidence, agents filed the charges against Slager, with North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey calling the incident a "bad decision."

"If you make a bad decision, don't care if you're behind the shield or just a citizen on the street, you have to live by that decision," Summey said.

Slager has also been fired.

Racial demagogues have another opportunity to decry black casualties at the hands of police.  The facts have not supported them in Ferguson and Staten Island, but this case may be the jackpot for them.  It is a terrible thing that a father of four, even one who didn’t pay his child support, was killed in the aftermath of a broken tail light traffic stop.  As Anthony Scott notes, justice will be done.  If only others were as measured.