Trooper indicted for civil rights violation
Last month I posted about the many videos that had been released documenting police abuse by the South Carolina Highway Patrol, and the refusal of the Orangeburg and Greenwood County Solicitors to prosecute the troopers responsible. Finally, a federal grand jury has indicted one of the troopers, Lance Cpl. Steve C. Garren, for civil rights violations.
The trooper should be charged with assault and battery with intent to kill, South Carolina's version of attempted murder, but that is a charge that would have to be made by state law enforcement authorities.
The solicitor's refusal to police the police even in this egregious of a case is disgusting. Jerry Peace, Greenwood County's solicitor, according to The State News, said that his "review of the videotape shows a criminal running away from law enforcement and darting in front of the vehicle, giving the trooper no time to react to the stop."
The video that is reproduced below shows this portion of the video twice, in slow motion the second time, and you can clearly see the trooper change direction as the man runs in front of his car, swerving to hit him. On the video you can also hear the trooper saying to his buddies afterwards, "Hey! I nailed the f*** out of him! I nailed the f*** out of him when he hit that damn field. He went flyin' up in the air." Another voice says "you hit him?" The response is "yeah I hit him. I was trying to hit him."
I applaud the U.S. Attorney and Justice Department for stepping in and taking action where our local elected officials will not. According to The State News article, U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins has said that he expects "additional presentations to the federal grand jury" as a result of the ongoing investigation into police abuse by state troopers.
