Fifty Million Dollars in Wartime Treasure Rescued from Ocean Floor

A British-led team has recovered a $50m trove of silver coins that has lain on the seabed since the
 steamship carrying them from Bombay to England was sunk in 1942.

The SS City of Cairo was torpedoed 772km (480 miles) south of St Helena by a German U-boat and sank to 5,150m. The 100 tons of coins, recovered in the deepest salvage operation in history, belonged to HM Treasury.  The silver rupees had been called in by London to help fund the war effort.
But they never made it. The steamship's tall plume of smoke was spotted by a U-boat on 6 November 1942 and it was torpedoed. Ten minutes later, amid efforts to abandon ship, the City of Cairo was hit with a second torpedo which sealed its fate.
The ship and its cargo was presumed lost until 2011, when a team led by British salvage expert John Kingsford located an unnatural object among the ridges and canyons of their South Atlantic search area.



   The wreck of the City of Cairo lay on the South Atlantic Ocean bed for more than 70 years before being discovered           

Under a contract with the UK government, underwater salvagers Deep Ocean Search (DOS) worked for several weeks searching a "jumbled up sea floor" twice the size of London, Mr Kingsford said

"We weren't convinced at first," he said. "But you have to give your team their head if they say they've found something, so we looked."

The object was indeed the City of Cairo, and the team recovered a "large percentage" of its £34 million treasure chest. "There was a lot a relief all round," Mr Kingsford said.

The coins have now been melted down in the UK and sold, with the undisclosed sum divided between the treasury - which technically owns the coins - and the salvagers, who take a percentage of the sale.

The salvage was completed in September 2013, but DOS has only now been given permission by the Ministry of Transport to announce it.



               The propeller of the fatal torpedo was discovered sitting on its own

As well as the coins, the team brought up the propeller belonging to the second, fatal torpedo.

Shortly after that second torpedo struck 73 years ago, and the last remnants of the City of Cairo disappeared beneath the waves, the U-boat surfaced and approached the survivors' lifeboats.

Its captain, Karl-Friedrich Merten, famously directed them to the nearest land and said: "Goodnight. Sorry for sinking you."

Only six of 311 people aboard died in the sinking, but it would be three weeks before anyone found any of the six lifeboats that had set out for land. In that time, 104 of the 305 survivors died.

The British SS Clan Alpine picked up 154 survivors alive on the way to St Helena and a further 47 were rescued by a British merchant ship, the Bendoran, and taken to Cape Town.



The coins are silver rupees, called in from India to London during the war

A final lifeboat was discovered 51 days after the sinking, off the coast of South America, with only two of its many passengers alive. In a cruel twist of fate, one of the two men, Third Officer James Allister Whyte, died shortly after when the ship taking him home was torpedoed by a U-boat.

After leaving the wreck for the final time, the divers left a plaque in honour of those who died which read: "We came here with respect."

 "Over a hundred people were lost here", said Kingsford. " It meant a lot to our team to find this ship and remember it."

Russia lifts ban on delivery of S-300 missiles to Iran

Russia lifts ban on delivery of S-300 missiles to Iran
MOSCOW (AP) -- President Vladimir Putin on Monday opened the way for Russia's delivery of a sophisticated air defense missile system to Iran, a move that would significantly bolster the Islamic republic's military capability. 

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry objected to Moscow's decision in a phone call to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and the White House indicated the move could endanger plans to ultimately lift sanctions on Iran as part of a final nuclear deal.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said unity and coordination with nations like Russia is critical to the success of the negotiations. Washington has said Moscow played a constructive role in the Iranian nuclear talks, despite sharp differences between Russia and the West over Ukraine.

Putin's move was quickly welcomed by Tehran, while it worried Israel, which saw it as a sign that Iran already had begun to cash in on the nuclear deal with world powers that is expected to be finalized by the end of June.

Putin's spokesman said the missile system could be shipped to Iran at any moment.

Russia signed the $800 million contract to sell Iran the S-300 missile system in 2007, but suspended their delivery three years later because of strong objections from the United States and Israel. Putin on Monday lifted that ban.

The preliminary agreement on settling the Iranian nuclear standoff struck earlier this month made the 2010 Russian ban unnecessary, Lavrov said in a televised statement.

The deal reached by Iran and six world powers is intended to significantly restrict its ability to produce nuclear weapons while giving it relief from international sanctions. The agreement is supposed to be finalized by June 30, and there is no firm agreement yet on how or when to lift the international sanctions on Iran.

The S-300 missile system, which has a range of up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) and the capability to track down and strike multiple targets simultaneously, is one of the most potent air defense weapons in the world.

"The S-300 is exclusively a defensive weapon, which can't serve offensive purposes and will not jeopardize the security of any country, including, of course, Israel," Lavrov said.
Deployed in big numbers, the system could provide a strong deterrent against any air attack. If Israel decides to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, the S-300s would further complicate the already daunting task.

Israeli Cabinet minister Yuval Steinitz said the framework nuclear agreement helped legitimize Iran and cleared the way for Monday's announcement by Russia.
Israel has harshly criticized the U.S.-led nuclear deal, saying it would give Iran relief from sanctions while leaving its nuclear program largely intact. Israel believes Iran still intends to develop a nuclear weapon.

"This is a direct result of the legitimacy that Iran obtained from the emerging nuclear deal," Steinitz said. He added that the arms deal shows that Iran plans to use the relief from economic sanctions to buy arms, not improve the living conditions of its people.

"Instead of demanding Iran stop its terror activities that it spreads in the Middle East and the entire world, it is being allowed to arm itself with advanced weapons that will only increase its aggression," Steinitz said.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave no details regarding his statement that the missiles could be delivered any time. Russian officials previously said that the specific model of the S-300 that Russia was to deliver under the 2007 contract is no longer produced, and offered Iran a modified version of it called S-300VM, or Antey-2500.

In Tehran, Gen. Reza Talaeinik said the decision by Russia on delivery of the air defense system will help improve ties between Tehran and Moscow, the semi-official Tasnim news agency, which is close to Iran's military, reported.

"With no doubt, this will boost ties and interactions between Iran and Russia," said Talaeinik. "When ties are based on mutual respect and observing rights, the ground will be paved for cooperation in other fields, too."

Back in 2010, Russia linked its decision to freeze the missiles' delivery to the sanctions the United Nations Security Council imposed on Iran over its nuclear program, but Lavrov argued Monday that the Russian move was voluntary and not directly required by the U.N. resolutions.

"It was done in the spirit of good will in order to encourage progress in talks," Lavrov said. "We are convinced that at this stage there is no longer need for such an embargo, specifically for a separate, voluntary Russian embargo."

Iran responded to the Russian ban by filing a lawsuit with a court in Geneva seeking $4 billion in damages for breach of contract, but the court has not issued a ruling.

Lavrov said that Russia had to take into account "commercial and reputational" issues linked to freezing the contract.
"Because of the suspension of the contract, Russia has failed to receive significant funds," he said. "We see no need to continue doing that."
He added that Iran badly needs modern air defense systems because of a tense situation in the region, specifically in Yemen.

'The latest  update  on  the 'Genie':  'The  Genie' is  recuperating  quite  well , she  has  her  good  days  and  bad  days . It's  takes  awhile  to  get back  to  full speed  after  a back  injury .

Mr. Humble  at  your  service .

Gap remains in video record of fatal SC police shooting

In this April 4, 2015, frame from dashboard video provided by the North Charleston Police Department, Patrolman Michael Thomas Slager stands by Walter Lamer Scott's car during a traffic stop in North Charleston, S.C. The video captures the moments leading up to a fatal shooting that has sparked outrage as the latest example of a white police officer killing an unarmed black man. Slager has been fired and charged with murder. (AP Photo/North Charleston Police Department)

JEFFREY COLLINS and MICHAEL BIESECKER Apr 11th 2015 

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Dashboard video shows a police officer making a routine traffic stop. Cellphone video shows the officer shooting the fleeing motorist in the back. What remains a mystery is what happened during the minutes in between that led the polite officer to become a killer. 

The dash cam footage released by state police on Thursday showed North Charleston Officer Michael Thomas Slager pulling over black motorist Walter Scott for a broken brake light last weekend. Slager, who is white, has been charged with murder in Scott's death.

Saturday's traffic stop opens like so many others as Scott was stopped in a used Mercedes-Benz he had purchased days earlier, footage from the patrol car showed. At the outset, it's a strikingly benign encounter: The officer is seen walking toward the driver's window, requesting Scott's license and registration. Slager then returns to his cruiser. On the dash cam video, Slager never touches his gun during the stop. He also makes no unreasonable demands or threats.

The video also shows Scott beginning to get out of the car, his right hand raised above his head. He then quickly gets back into the car and closes the door. After Slager goes back to his patrol car, minutes later, Scott jumps from his car and runs. Slager chases him. 

What's missing is what happens from the time the two men run out of the frame of dashboard video to the time picked up in a bystander's cellphone video a few hundred yards away. The cellphone footage starts with Scott getting to his feet and running away, then Slager firing eight shots at the man's back.

"It is possible for something to happen in that gap to significantly raise the officer's perception of risk," Seth Stoughton, a former police officer and criminal law professor at the University of South Carolina

Scott was almost $7,500 behind in child support and had been in jail three times over the issue, but no bench warrants had been issued directing officers to bring him in. His family has said that he might have run because he was behind on payments again and didn't want to go back to jail. He last paid child support in 2012, court records show.

Police and Slager's first lawyer initially said the officer fired in self-defense during a scuffle over his department-issued Taser. Within days of Saturday's encounter, the eyewitness video surfaced and immediately changed perceptions of what had happened, leading authorities to charge Slager with murder and fire him from the police force he'd worked on for five years.

On Friday, Slager's mother, Karen Sharpe, told ABC's "Good Morning America" that she couldn't believe her son - who loved being an officer and had a baby on the way - would have been involved in the incident. She said she's taking one day at a time and hasn't watched the cellphone video that helped bring about Slager's arrest.

"I just have to let it be and hope God takes care of everybody involved - not only my family but the Scott family because I know they're grieving just like I'm grieving, so I want them to know that," she said.

There is almost nothing in Slager's police personnel file to suggest that his superiors considered him a rogue officer capable of murdering a man during a traffic stop. In the community he served, however, people say this reflects what's wrong with policing today: Officers nearly always get the last word when citizens complain.

"We've had through the years numerous similar complaints, and they all seem to be taken lightly and dismissed without any obvious investigation," the Rev. Joseph Darby, vice president of the Charleston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Thursday.

The mostly black neighborhood where the shooting took place is far from unique, said Melvin Tucker, a former FBI agent and police chief in four southern cities who often testifies in police misconduct cases.

Nationwide, training that pushes pre-emptive action, military experience that creates a warzone mindset, and legal system favoring police in misconduct cases all lead to scenarios where officers see the people they serve as enemies, he said.

"It's not just training. It's not just unreasonable fear. It's not just the warrior mentality. It's not just court decisions that almost encourage the use of it. It is not just race," Tucker said. "It is all of that."

As a steady crowd left flowers, stuffed animals, notes and protest signs in the empty lot where Scott was shot, many said police in South Carolina's third-largest city routinely dismiss complaints of petty brutality and harassment, even when eyewitnesses can attest to police misbehavior. The result, they say, is that officers are regarded with a mixture of distrust and fear.

Both Slager, 33, and Scott, 55, were U.S. Coast Guard veterans. Slager had one complaint in his personnel file of excessive force that was ultimately dismissed. Scott had the child support issues and traffic violations. But neither man had a record of violence. Slager consistently earned positive reviews in his five years with the North Charleston Police.

Slager's attorney, Andy Savage, said Thursday that he's conducting his own investigation, and that it's "far too early for us to be saying what we think."

The officer is being held without bond pending an Aug. 21 hearing on a charge of murder that could put him in prison for 30 years to life if convicted.

Slager's file includes a single excessive use-of-force complaint, from 2013: A man said Slager used his stun gun against him without reason. But Slager was exonerated and the case closed, even though witnesses told The Associated Press that investigators never followed up with them. Police say they are now looking at that case again amid questions by the man Tased and eyewitnesses who said authorities never questioned them about it.

"It's almost impossible to get an agency to do an impartial internal affairs investigation. First of all the investigators doing it are co-workers of the person being investigated. Number two, there's always the tendency on the part of the departments to believe the officers," Tucker said.

Mr. Humble's point of  view :

Stopping a car for a defective tail light has been used as an excuse for police officers to do a document and background check for years. Running from a police officer because you are afraid of going to jail because of unpaid child support is a bad decision. However, if the police officer was not threatened with deadly force, gun, knife, sword, auto, baseball bat, etc., no one should die. A tragic situation which for all involved.

Just my humble opinion 

Ask Maxy

Dear Maxy ,
My family has a history of hypertension and high blood pressure . I recently went to a doctor for my annual checkup and she was please with my overall physical health , however , she told me my blood pressure was a bit high for her liking . My doctor told me that I would need to add an exercise regimen into an already busy schedule . 
Releasing the Pressure 
Dear Releasing  The Pressure ,
Health challenges  such as  yours  require a lifestyle  change  in order  for  you  to stay healthy ... or  even alive .  Yes , this  may seem daunting , but  it  is  true . High Blood  blood pressure  is  called "the  silent killer" because  it  commonly  has  minimal  symtoms ,  yet it  can  and  has  caused  stokes in the thousands  of  unknowing victims . Doctors  do suggest  that exercise , healthy eating  and weight  loss can  significantly  reduce  or  even eliminate  high blood  pressure  ... in some  people .  Even if  high blood pressure  doesn't  go away , these  things  are  good  for  you . 
Will it  be hard  to add  daily movement  into a tight  schedule,  that did not  previously include physical activity ? Sure . You have  to decide  that your  life is  worth living  . Once you do , get support by  joining  a walking group , a  gym , Weight Watchers or  some  other  group  activity  that will keep  you  sincere  about   your developing  routine . 
Maxy 

Dear Maxy 
My boyfriend called me to tell me about his long-distance "girlfriend" -- I say that loosely because he has seen her only once . He told his phone friend that he is seeing someone in the same city he lives in and she was not pleased with my man's confession . She insisted that he dissolve our relationship immediately , but I was so happy that he did not listen to her . Going forward , how can we continue to reinforce out relationship ? I like what we have together . 
Budding relationship 
Dear Budding Relationship,
It's  a good  sign  that your  boyfriend  told  you about  his  phone  relationship . Find  out  more  from him  about  what  this  woman  means  to him  and  whether  he  intends  to stay in touch with her . Express  to him  how  much you are  enjoying the  time you are  spending  together . Make  it  clear  to him  that  you want  to see how  your  relationship  blossoms  and  that you are  excited  about  the  possibilities  . Add that  you  do not  want   to be  in the  middle  of  another  relationship . Ask him directly  if  he  is  finished  with this  woman  and  if  he  chooses  to be  with you .
Maxy

Dear Maxy ,
I live in an apartment building with pretty thin walls . There is always noise coming from somewhere . Recently , an upstairs neighbor started singing every afternoon around the same time I come home from work . And you guessed it , she can't sing a lick ! Plus she is loud as all-get out . It's nuts . I know it is her right to sing , but I can't find a moment of peace now , what with hearing her acting like she about to go on stage . What can I do ?
Killing me loudly 
Dear  Killing  me  Loudly ,
You can make  a detour  on your  way  home  from work  and  buy  a  white  noise  machine . This  should  help diminish  the  sound  of  the  noise  coming  from above .  you can also delay   your  arrival  by  doing  someting  fun . If  you show  up later,  you may miss this  concert  and  discover  a new  hobby  at the  same  time . If  she  persists  past  your  breaking  point ,  you can knock on  her  door   and  very kindly ask  her  if  she  could  put  a  rug  on the  floor directly  above   you so  it can absorb some  of  the  noise .
Maxy

Dear Maxy ,
I have a 30-year-old son "Brad" was the prefect child , loving and affectionate until the age of 16 .
That's when I divorced my drug-addicted husband . I sheltered the children as much as I could from what their father was doing. 
When I transferred Brad to a public school , he got involved in drugs , quit school , became verbally abusive , did a stint in jail and more . I remarried a wonderful man who showed Brad nothing but love . Any disciplining was done by me . 
When I found out Brad was doing drugs at age 21 , I kicked him out the house . He abused steroids and who know what else . 
He blames me for the way he is because I kicked out . He claims no mother would do that . I told him it's "tough love" and that I refuse to watch him destroy himself .
I have not spoken to Brad in 5 months . Christmas and my birthday has come and gone with no acknowledgement . My heart is just so broken . Should I reach out to him or let him figure out life on his own ? Do I wish him a happy birthday next month ? I don't know what to do any more .
Brokenhearted Mom 
Dear  Brokenhearted ,
Tough love  can also  be  tough  on the  parents . You did  nothing  wrong by expecting your  adult  son to  move out of the  house .
Even kids  who  are  not  abusing  drugs  ought  to leave  the  nest  by then . Brad  finds  it  easier  to blame  you for  what is  wrong  with his life  than to accept  responsibility  for  his  own actions .
Until  he  figures  it  out , all you can do  is  wait  and  hope .  But  you can send  him a  birthday  card   and  also  find support  from others  in  your  situation   through ... Because  I  Love  You  at  ( bily.org  )  Good  Luck  .
Maxy

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev convicted in Boston Marathon bombing

April  8th 2015 3:30PM
BOSTON (AP) -- Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted on all charges Wednesday in the Boston Marathon bombing by a federal jury that now must decide whether the 21-year-old former college student should be executed.

Tsarnaev folded his arms, fidgeted and looked down at the defense table as he listened to one guilty verdict after another on all 30 counts against him, including conspiracy and deadly use of a weapon of mass destruction. Seventeen of those counts are punishable by death.

The verdict - reached after a day and a half of deliberations - was practically a foregone conclusion, given his lawyer's startling admission during opening statements that Tsarnaev carried out the attack with his now-dead older brother, Tamerlan.
The two shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs that exploded near the finish line on April 15, 2013, killed three spectators and wounded more than 260 other people, turning the traditionally celebratory home stretch of the world-famous race into a scene of carnage and putting the city on edge for days.

Tsarnaev was found responsible not only for those deaths but for that of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer who was shot days later.

In the trial's next phase, which could begin as early as Monday, the jury will hear evidence on whether Tsarnaev should get the death penalty or spend the rest of his life in prison.
In a bid to save him from a death sentence, defense attorney Judy Clarke has argued that Tsarnaev, then 19, fell under the influence of his radicalized brother.

"If not for Tamerlan, it would not have happened," Clarke told the jury during closing arguments.

Prosecutors, however, portrayed the brothers - ethnic Chechens who moved to the U.S. from Russia more than a decade ago - as full partners in a plan to punish the U.S. for its wars in Muslim countries. Jihadist writings, lectures and videos were found on both their computers, though the defense argued that Tamerlan downloaded the material and sent it to his brother.
Tamerlan, 26, died when he was shot by police and run over by his brother during a chaotic getaway attempt days after the bombing.

The government called 92 witnesses over 15 days, painting a hellish scene of torn-off limbs, blood-spattered pavement, ghastly screams and the smell of sulfur and burned hair.

Survivors gave heartbreaking testimony about losing legs in the blasts or watching people die. The father of 8-year-old Martin Richard described making the agonizing decision to leave his mortally wounded son so he could get help for their 6-year-old daughter, whose leg had been blown off.

In the courtroom Wednesday, Denise Richard, the boy's mother, wiped tears from her face after the verdict. The boy's father, Bill Richard, embraced one of the prosecutors.

In Russia, Tsarnaev's father, Anzor Tsarnaev, told The Associated Press in recent days that he would have no comment.
The others killed in the bombing were Lingzi Lu, a 23-year-old Chinese graduate student at Boston University, and Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager. MIT police Officer Sean Collier was shot to death at close range days later.
Some of the most damning evidence included video showing 

Tsarnaev planting a backpack containing one of the bombs near where the 8-year-old boy was standing, and incriminating statements scrawled inside the dry-docked boat where a wounded and bleeding Tsarnaev was captured days after the tragedy.
"Stop killing our innocent people and we will stop," he wrote.
Tsarnaev's lawyers barely cross-examined the government's witnesses and called just four people to the stand over less than two days, all in an effort to portray the older brother as the guiding force in the plot.

Witnesses testified about phone records that showed Dzhokhar was at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth while his brother was buying bomb components, including pressure cookers and BBs. A forensics expert said Tamerlan's computer showed search terms such as "detonator," "transmitter and receiver," while Dzhokhar was largely spending time on Facebook and other social media sites.

And an FBI investigator said Tamerlan's fingerprints - but not Dzhokhar's - were found on pieces of the two bombs.
Clarke is one of the nation's foremost death-penalty specialists and has kept other high-profile defendants off death row. She saved the lives of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and Susan Smith, the South Carolina woman who drowned her two children in a lake in 1994.

Tsarnaev's lawyers tried repeatedly to get the trial moved out of Boston because of the heavy publicity and the widespread trauma. But opposition to capital punishment is strong in Massachusetts, which abolished its state death penalty in 1984, and some polls have suggested a majority of Bostonians do not want to see Tsarnaev sentenced to die.

During the penalty phase, Tsarnaev's lawyers will present so-called mitigating evidence they hope will save his life. That could include evidence about his family, his relationship with his brother, and his childhood in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan and later in the volatile Dagestan region of Russia.
Prosecutors will present so-called aggravating factors in support of the death penalty, including the killing of a child and the targeting of the marathon because of the potential for maximum bloodshed.

Mr. Humble  says : 

I saw this  comment  on  the  internet  and  my  thoughts  exactly .  I tip my hat to you 'heywoodj12'

heywoodj12 
Bye Bye terrorist! Have fun with your 72 virgins that are all named Frank. Fry this SOB and send a message to other would be terrorist scumbags that they will meet the same fate. An eye for an eye. No mercy. Don't screw with the USA. Don't screw with Boston. 
We are BOSTON STRONG and you are Boston dead!!

White SC officer charged with murder in black man's death

This photo provided by the Charleston County, S.C., Sheriff's Office shows Patrolman Michael Thomas Slager on Tuesday, April 7, 2015. Slager has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a black motorist after a traffic stop. North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey told a news conference that city Slager was arrested and charged Tuesday after law enforcement officials saw a video of the shooting following a Saturday traffic stop. (AP Photo/Charleston County Sheriff's Office)

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- Dramatic video that shows a white South Carolina police officer shooting a fleeing black man after a traffic stop has led authorities to file a murder charge against the officer amid public outrage over a series of deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of law enforcement agents.

Protests were planned Wednesday in North Charleston, led by a group formed after the fatal shooting of another black man in Ferguson, Missouri.
The video, provided to the dead man's family and lawyer by an unidentified person who shot the footage, shows North Charleston Patrolman Michael Thomas Slager firing eight shots at the back of Walter Lamer Scott as he runs away. The 50-year-old man falls after the eighth shot, fired after a brief pause.
Scott's parents appeared separately on TV shows Wednesday morning, a day after the officer was charged. 
Walter Scott Sr. told the NBC "Today Show" that his son may have run because he owed child support and didn't want to go back to jail.
Scott Sr. said that in the video, the officer "looked like he was trying to kill a deer running through the woods."
Judy Scott called the video "the most horrible thing I've ever seen."
"I almost couldn't look at it to see my son running defenselessly, being shot. It just tore my heart to pieces," she said on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Attorneys for the family said the man who shot the video is assisting investigators. The person has not been identified.
North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey announced the charge at a news conference Tuesday. Summy said Slager had made "a bad decision." Authorities said Scott was shot after the officer had already hit the man with a stun gun after a traffic stop Saturday that began over a faulty brake light.
"When you're wrong, you're wrong," Summey told reporters. "When you make a bad decision, don't care if you're behind the shield or a citizen on the street, you have to live with that decision."
Slager, who has been with the North Charleston police for five years, was denied bond at a first appearance hearing Tuesday. He was not accompanied by a lawyer. If convicted, he could face 30 years to life in prison.
The shooting comes amid ongoing public issues of trust between law enforcement and minority communities after such prominent deaths as those of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner on Staten Island, New York.
Heightened scrutiny is being placed by Americans on police officer shootings, particularly those that involve white officers and unarmed black suspects. A grand jury declined to indict Ferguson, Missouri, officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Brown last August, leading to nationwide protests.
A local Black Lives Matter group, formed after Brown's death, planned a demonstration Wednesday morning at North Charleston City Hall.
Scott's family and their attorney, L. Chris Stewart, called for calm and peaceful protests. They said the murder charge showed that the justice system is working in this case.
Stewart said the video forced authorities to act quickly and decisively. "What if there was no video? What if there was no witness, or hero as I call him, to come forward?" asked Stewart.
Slager's then-attorney David Aylor had released a statement Monday saying the officer felt threatened and that Scott was trying to grab Slager's stun gun. Aylor dropped Slager as a client after the video surfaced.
The footage was also released to news media outlets.
It shows Scott falling after the shots and then the officer slowly walking toward Scott and ordering the man to put his hands behind his back. When Scott doesn't move, Slager pulls his arms back and cuffs his hands. Then he walks briskly back to where he fired the shots, picks up an object, and returns the 30 feet or so back to Scott before dropping the object by Scott's feet, the video shows.
The video prompted condemnations from law-and-order Republican leaders in South Carolina.
Gov. Nikki Haley issued a statement saying Slager's actions were not acceptable and did not reflect the state's values or "the way most of our law enforcement officials act."
Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, who is not related to Walter Scott, called the shooting unnecessary and avoidable. "My heart aches for the family and our North Charleston community. I will be watching this case closely," he wrote on Twitter. Tim Scott is the only black U.S. senator from a Southern state.
Walter Scott may have tried to run from the officer because he owed child support, which can lead to jail time in South Carolina until it is paid, Stewart said. Scott had four children, was engaged and had been honorably discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard. There were no violent offenses on his record, the attorney said. Stewart said the family plans to sue the police department.
Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson said the Federal Bureau of Investigation also will investigate.
North Charleston is South Carolina's third-largest city. For years, it battled an economic slump caused by the mid-1990s closing of the Charleston Naval Base on the city's waterfront. The city has bounced back since, largely because of a huge investment by Boeing, which has a 787 aircraft manufacturing plant in the city and employs about 7,500 people in South Carolina, most in North Charleston.
In a separate case in South Carolina, a white police officer who shot a 68-year-old black man to death last year in his driveway was charged Tuesday with a felony: discharging a gun into an occupied vehicle.
A prosecutor previously tried to indict North Augusta officer Justin Craven on a manslaughter charge in the February 2014 death of Ernest Satterwhite. But a grand jury instead chose misconduct in office, which is a far lesser charge.
Craven chased Satterwhite for 9 miles beyond city limits to the man's driveway in Edgefield County. After Satterwhite parked, the officer repeatedly fired through the driver-side door, prosecutors said. The 25-year-old officer faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the gun charge.

Just  a  word  or  two :
The police officers own department and the DOJ already know this man is guilty of murder. He is in jail with no bail and no lawyer. His lawyer quit after viewing the video. It's obvious the officer lied and tampered with evidence. This is not political. It has nothing to do with Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Al or President Obama. It's just flat out murder. If you defend this cop you have some serious issues

It was almost like watching a video from a out of control third world country where the police execute people on a whim, life is cheap, it's getting scary now,


Forget about race for a second. This cop plain old murdered that man. He'll get his trial and probably spend quite a few years behind bars. I just hope the citizens don't paint the whole department as trigger happy because of one despicable officer.

Dear friends and readers,
I apologize for my absence. The road of life is full of potholes and I have fallen into a few deep ones in these past few weeks. I am a lucky Genie, as I have had the support of a wonderful family and good friends who have helped me through my trials and tribulations ( I love you guys).  With their help, I shall return as soon as I am able to sit at my computer once more.

Until then, Best Wishes,
Genie