A white South Carolina police officer has been charged with murder after a video showed him shooting an apparently unarmed African-American man who was running away. The killing happened Saturday morning after North Charleston police officer Michael Slager stopped Walter Scott for a broken brake light. Slager is seen shooting Scott eight times in the video as he tries to flee.

The North Charleston Police Department had initially defended Slager after he said he feared for his life and claimed Scott had taken his taser weapon. But the video shows Slager shooting Scott in the back at a distance of about 15 feet. The video also appears to capture Slager planting an object next to Scott -- possibly the taser gun. It doesn't seem to show Scott in possession of the officer's stun gun at any time.

"Democracy Now!" is joined by longtime South Carolina civil rights activist Kevin Alexander Gray, editor of the book "Killing Trayvons: An Anthology of American Violence."

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