Killer S.C. cop is kept in isolation
Fear he’ll be stabbed by inmates
THE DISGRACED South Carolina cop charged with killing an unarmed black man is now being held in isolation for his own protection.
Whenever former police officer Michael Slager leaves cell 1140B, jail guards surround him on all sides — and keep other inmates far away.
“He wouldn’t last one week in the general population before someone shivved his ass,” recently released inmate John Aitchek told the Daily News on Friday. “Everyone inside is talking about it. Of course people want to get at him.”
Slager, prisoner 0001514468, is a minority in the Charleston County jail — and not just because he was a cop until Tuesday, when he was fired by the North Charleston Police Department.
Of the 1,198 inmates, 832 are black and 366 are white, as is Slager.
He was charged with murder after a video emerged contradicting his claim that he fatally shot 50-year-old Walter Scott last Saturday because he feared for his life.
Jail employees who have seen Slager up close told The News that he appears to be holding up.
“He’s been real quiet,” said one worker, who asked not to be identified. “Hasn’t cried or shown a lot of emotion.”
Slager may be the most notorious prisoner in the joint and getting extra protection, but he has to eat the same chow as everybody else.
On Thursday, Slager was served oatmeal, biscuit, egg and juice for breakfast. Lunch consisted of two salami sandwiches with noodles and elbow macaroni. Dinner was a soy patty, officials said.
Also known as the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center, the forbidding facility was featured in 2014 on the MSNBC prison documentary series “Lockup Extended Stay.”
The six episodes filmed at the jail showed several fights and prisoners discussing “vent sex,” which is like phone sex — minus the phone.
While Slager was watching his back, Scott’s family held an intimate wake at a Charleston funeral home. Laid out in a black suit with red pinstripes, Scott (photo right) had a poster of his beloved Dallas Cowboys by his casket and a floral arrangement bearing a note that read “Beloved Father.”
Scott’s funeral is Saturday and is also expected to be a private family affair. The Rev. Al Sharpton has been invited by the the victim’s brother Anthony to preach Sunday at the Charity Missionary Baptist Church in Charleston.
“Yup, I’m going,” Sharpton said. “I talked to Anthony, who asked me to come. He said I was welcome.”
The News reported on Friday that Scott’s family did not want Sharpton to attend the funeral.
Scott, a father of four, had been arrested at least three times for failure to pay child support. His family suspects this might be why he ran after Slager pulled him over for a broken brake light.
But there was no bench warrant out for Scott’s arrest, The Associated Press reported, even though the doomed dad was almost $7,500 in arrears on the support.