(ThyBlackMan.com) As Black America mourns the death of yet another unarmed Black man we are smiling through our tears. This time, we collectively think – this time we got him on video. This time Michael Slager can’t say, as Darrell Wilson said in Mike Brown’s case, that the victim was charging him and he feared for his life. We saw the whole murder on video. But wait — we also saw the whole brutal murder of Eric Gardner on video. Well, this is different we could say – this time they actually called it murder. But…but… didn’t the coroner officially label Eric Garner’s death a homicide, i.e., murder?
Well, can we hold out hope this time that unlike the Ferguson Police Force in Mike Brown’s case, or the New York Police Force in Garner’s case, maybe the South Carolina Police Force will be fair and not uphold that “thin blue line?” Dare we believe that even though Michael Slager originally lied and said Walter Scott attempted to take his taser and he “feared for his life,” before the video showed that he shot Scott eight times as he tried to get away, and then dropped his taser beside him, that maybe they’ll be fair? Well, 
maybe not.
An article in the Huffington Post (http:// tinyurl.com/slager-prev) gives us a not-too-optimistic look at the South Carolina Police Force’s history of dealing with the truth in protecting their own. According to the article, Slager went to the home of the wrong man, pushed in the door, pulled him out of his home and tased him as he held up both of his hands, then tased him again as he lay on the ground screaming in pain. After the man and his family filed a complaint, the incident report showed that Slager said he could not see one of the victim’s hands and “feared he might be holding a weapon.” He also said he observed sweat on the victim’s shirt, which he perceived as evidence that he could have run, and was forced to enter the home and use his stun gun when the victim “struggled with him.”
So in this case, as in the cases of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Oscar Grant, Amadou Diallo, Tamir Rice and the many thousands of Black men who have been gunned down and lied on, we cannot look to the police department for justice.
In this case, as in the cases of Rodney King, Oscar Grant, Eric Garner and dozens of others that have been recorded in the era of smart cameras, we can expect the powers that be to give the murderers-in-blue every benefit of the doubt, and not rely on their “lying eyes” for the truth.
However, a video of Slager’s arraignment made the social media rounds, and as Slager faced the judge – the Black judge – the Black judge who looked really mean – the Black judge who denied Slager bail — I couldn’t help but think, and hope that maybe just maybe this time justice might prevail.
Staff Writer; Emma Young