The Michael Slager-Walter Scott Murder Case: “Hugely Incompetent”—an Exclusive Interview with Defendant Michael Slager’s Defense Attorney, Andy Savage
For over four months, South Carolina authorities have forced white former policeman and accused murderer Michael Slager, 33, to sit in jail in solitary confinement, in violation of his constitutional rights, without so much as a bond hearing. Slager has been charged with murdering a black man, Walter Scott, 50. The mainstream media and authorities in South Carolina have depicted Slager as a racist monster who wantonly executed an angelic black man.
The following exclusive interview was conducted on August 4, when Michael Slager’s defense attorney, Andy Savage, graciously called me, and spoke with me at length. I’d been trying to get an interview with Mr. Savage for four months. To my knowledge, it is the first extensive interview Andy Savage has given.
I previously published investigative reports on the case for VDARE on April 30 and June 10, as well as blog articles on April 12 and June 8.
But first let me give readers a backgrounder. The following information will necessarily contradict much of what readers thought they knew, based on having relied on the MSM. Debunking the MSM’s lies is what I do for living.
Background to the Case
On April 4, white North Charleston Police Department Officer First-Class Michael Slager, 33, encountered black driver Walter Scott, 50, during a routine traffic stop. A person whose relationship to Scott was unclear rode in the passenger seat.
Scott had a broken brake light. He was driving a 1990 Mercedes-Benz that he claimed to own, but for which he had no registration. Scott’s story changed during the conversation, with him oddly claiming, eventually, to have bought the car, but without having completed the transaction. Officer Slager remained relaxed during the conversation, but had to suspect that he was dealing with a car thief.
The North Charleston PD, the state police agency SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division), and Ninth Circuit Solicitor (equivalent to DA) have all refused to divulge whether Walter Scott was in possession of a stolen car or, indeed, what the ownership status of the vehicle was. (Yes, I've asked them many times.)
Officer Slager returned to his squad car to call in what he had, to check for information on the vehicle (e.g., whether it showed up as stolen), and whether there were any outstanding arrest warrants out on Walter Scott.
Unbeknownst to Officer Slager, there was an outstanding warrant out for Walter Scott’s arrest, for almost $20,000 in unpaid child support. Scott had been in and out of jail a dozen or more times, mostly for failure to pay child support. He was good at making babies, at least four of whom he had sired, but had no interest in supporting any of them. And as Scott’s own family would admit, Scott had no intention of letting himself be arrested again.
After about a minute, Scott opened his door, and stood up. Officer Slager ordered him to get back in the car. Shortly thereafter, Scott bolted from the car, and ran towards a nearby field.
Based on Officer Scott’s dashboard cam and a video shot by passerby Feidin Santana, we know that at some point, Officer Slager caught up with Scott, who violently resisted arrest.
At one point, Scott was on top of Officer Slager. Officer Slager repeatedly sought to fire his TASER, which may have failed him. At some point, Scott seized control of the TASER, and shot Officer Slager in the chest with it, and apparently in one leg.
Officer Slager somehow got to his feet (there’s a break in Santana’s video, as he changed his position, and the way he held his cellphone), and Scott, who was likewise standing, again violently resisted arrest. Officer Slager had something in his hand, which appeared to be his TASER. Scott wrestled the TASER out of Officer Slager’s hand, it landed on the ground a few feet away, and Scott took off again, caught up in TASER wires he was yanking, whose other ends were in Officer Slager’s chest and, apparently, leg.
With the fleeing Scott yanking the TASER wires in Officer Slager’s chest and leg, Officer Slager took up a shooting position, and fired ten times (not eight times, as SLED claimed, and the MSM reported [see below]). SLED announced that Officer Slager shot Scott three times in the back, once in the buttocks, and once in the ear. Since SLED’s announcement didn’t paint Officer Slager in a harsh enough light, some MSM “reporters” lied, and asserted that Slager had shot Scott eight times in the back.
The number of shots was actually irrelevant, since cops are trained to aim at body mass, and to fire until the perp goes down, or surrenders. However, no matter how many times a policeman fires at and hits a black man, black supremacists, white racial socialists, and the MSM will decree that the number was obscenely excessive. As far as they are concerned, one round fired by a white cop at a black perp, circumstances be damned, is one round too many.
That was on April 4. Feidin Santana arranged to meet with Scott’s family, and show them the video. After showing it to them, Santana turned the video in to SLED on April 6. SLED arrested Officer Slager on April 7. On April 8, Officer Slager was summarily fired, without any hearing, by Chief Eddie Driggers of the North Charleston Police Department. Officer Slager’s own union chief (a state police executive) condemned him, and refused him legal representation, even though Slager had paid for it! Slager was not indicted until June 8. As of this writing—August 13—he has been held in solitary confinement for over four months without a bond hearing, in violation of his constitutional rights.
The MSM, black supremacists, and white racial socialists (not to mention white police executives) have all sought to lynch Slager, and idealize Scott, while revealing a distinct lack of curiosity regarding the facts of the case. Slager’s first lawyer, David Aylor, upon seeing the world turn on his client, threw all legal ethics out the window, strongly implied that Slager was guilty as hell, and deserted him. Aylor should be disbarred for his misconduct, but don’t hold your breath. After all, he only harmed a white cop.
The Interview
Nicholas Stix: I want to ask you, first off, whether your client, Mr. Slager, is still in jail?
Attorney Andy Savage: Yes, he is.
[Postscript, August 13: Michael Slager is still in jail.]
Stix: Have you sought to spring him on bond or bail?
Savage: We’re actually filing the motion for a hearing today. I’ll be glad to send it to you, you can read it. It explains the situation a little bit better.
That motion for a hearing that we’re filing today… we will append, with the memorandum, once a hearing is scheduled, to reveal a considerable amount of information that was [unclear] not produced by law enforcement.
Stix: So that then ties into a motion you made in June that charges that “SLED had mishandled or destroyed evidence.”
Savage: Yes.
Savage: The evidence they missed were two projectiles our investigators found.
Stix: Now, when you say “projectiles,” what kind of projectiles are you talking about?
Savage: The bullets that were shot at Scott.
We found them with a Fisher-Price toy.
Stix: Embedded in it?
Savage: No, you know what Fisher-Price is, right? You buy them for your grandchildren.
That’s how we found them.
Stix: I don’t understand. You found them…
Savage: It’s a long story, but let’s just say the crime scene investigation that was done was less than what you would have done, if you were personally involved in the case.
Stix: So, the crime scene investigation was incompetent.
Savage: Hugely.
Stix: Now, a question that’s been bothering me, and I’ve been trying to get an answer out of Solicitor Wilson’s office, is were you able to determine who owned the car that Mr. Scott was driving?
Savage: Uh, no. And we have asked for that information, and we haven’t received it. There has been reports that it was sold to him, but there was never any change of title, or, you know, it wasn’t properly registered at the time.
That’s sort of a side issue for us, but shows, you know, it’s indicative of the sloppiness of the whole thing.
Nobody reported that he [Scott] owed almost $20,000 in child support, either, at the time.
What I’ll do, is I’ll send you a copy of this motion that’s filed today… [unclear] raise some additional questions.
Stix: And did Mrs. Slager have the child? Was the child …
Savage: The child’s healthy. Big kid. Isaac is the child’s name.
Stix: And has Mr. Slager been able to see him yet?
Savage: We have video conferencing in my office, connected to the jail. In that capacity, he has seen [trails off].
He’s in solitary confinement.
Stix: Now, is that in part to protect him because he’s, he was a law enforcement officer?
Savage: It’s a determination made by the people who classify inmates, based on his occupation. That’s an issue in my application for a hearing….
Stix: I thank you very much for your time, sir.
Savage: You have a good day.
Stix: You too, sir.
Postscript: Andy Savage filed his motion for a bond hearing the same day we spoke. On August 6, Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson granted Savage a bond hearing, slated for August 27.
Award-winning, New York-based freelancer Nicholas Stix founded A Different Drummer magazine (1989-93). Stix has written for Die Suedwest Presse, New York Daily News, New York Post, Newsday, Middle American News, Toogood Reports, Insight, Chronicles, the American Enterprise, Campus Reports, VDARE, the Weekly Standard, Front Page Magazine, Ideas on Liberty, National Review Online and the Illinois Leader. His column also appears at Men's News Daily, MichNews, Intellectual Conservative, Enter Stage Right and OpinioNet. Stix has studied at colleges and universities on two continents, and earned a couple of sheepskins, but he asks that the reader not hold that against him. His day jobs have included washing pots, building Daimler-Benzes on the assembly-line, tackling shoplifters and teaching college, but his favorite job was changing his son's diapers.
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