Ben Carson: Cop Shooting Of S.C. Black Man Was An ‘Execution’

Ben Carson, former neurosurgeon, addresses the 42nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) February 26, 2015 in National Harbor, Maryland.Photo by Olivier Douliery/Sipa USA
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Dr. Ben Carson, a potential Republican presidential candidate, on Wednesday condemned the shooting of an unarmed black man by a white South Carolina police officer.

“It’s horrible to see an execution take place in the street like that,” Carson told Buzzfeed News.

“Certainly that policeman was too quick to do it. I don’t know if you can always generalize in a situation like that but certainly that officer was wrong,” Carson said when asked if police are sometimes too quick to use their guns. “And I think it’s so obvious that he was wrong — that this provides an excellent opportunity for law enforcement personnel across the country to really come out and condemn this. And if they do that tells us a lot. And if they don’t that tells us a lot.”

North Charleston, S.C., Patrolman Michael Thomas Slager was charged with murder on Tuesday after a video appeared to show him shooting an unarmed black man, Walter Scott, in the back multiple times.

Police said that Slager used his stun gun on Scott numerous times before using his gun. Slager claimed he felt threatened by Scott and that Scott had tried to take his stun gun, according to police.

Latest Livewire
56
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for iann iann says:

    Oh Geez Ben, Ya think? What a brave brave statement of the obvious! Something penetrated through the thick noggin of our esteemed neurosurgeon.

  2. It’s impossible to argue with video.

  3. Oh some folks on Twitter are doing a great job of blaming the guy that was murdered.

    As for Carson, he’s right. Wish more conservatives were as blunt on this issue as he is being.

  4. Well, I should have said for smart people. And maybe it’s just me, but isn’t twitter is a horrible format for an argument?

  5. RINO alert! Now he’s talking like a Democrat.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

50 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for alliebean Avatar for dr_coyote Avatar for peter_schwartz Avatar for jw1 Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for liberaljesus Avatar for chammy Avatar for bojimbo26 Avatar for thx1138 Avatar for teenlaqueefa Avatar for wwss Avatar for trumpdog Avatar for jmdintpa Avatar for candirue Avatar for robcat2075 Avatar for speedoh Avatar for upstateny13027 Avatar for wrightwingnut Avatar for clauscph Avatar for antisachetdethe Avatar for btinkler Avatar for scuttlebut Avatar for jviscont1

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: