A former police officer has been indicted on federal charges for killing a black motorist in the US state of South Carolina last year, one of a series of incidents that sparked protests over perceived racist abuses by law enforcement.
A grand jury on Tuesday formally charged Michael Slager with deprivation of rights under color of law, use of a weapon during commission of a violent crime and obstruction of justice.
Slager was dismissed from the North Charleston police force and charged with murder after shooting Walter Scott.
Scott was shot in the back five times as he tried to run away from Slager on April 4, 2015 after being pulled over, reportedly for a broken brake light.
Slager "shot Walter Scott without legal justification, willfully depriving him of the right, secured and protected by the Constitution of the United States, to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a law enforcement officer," read the indictment filed in US District Court in Charleston.
The weapon was a .45 caliber Glock pistol.
According to the indictment, Slager "knowingly misled... investigators by falsely stating that he fired his weapon at Scott while Scott was coming forward at him with a Taser."
"In truth and in fact, as defendant Michael Slager then well knew, he repeatedly fired his weapon at Scott when Scott was running away from him."
Slager, 34, was arrested and charged with murder three days after video of the incident emerged. He had fired his weapon eight times, but hit Scott five times.
His trial for murder is scheduled to begin October 31.
The death of Scott, who was 50, set off protests in the city and followed a string of highly publicized incidents of deadly police violence against African Americans around the country.
