Walter Scott’s family wants Al Sharpton to butt out

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Walter Scott’s family wants Al Sharpton to butt out

The family of South Carolina police shooting victim Walter Scott is asking Al Sharpton to respectfully stay away out of fear of creating a “circus” similar to Ferguson, Missouri, a source close to the family told the New York Daily News.

“We don’t want another Ferguson type of circus here,” the source said Thursday, two days before Scott’s funeral.

Scott family attorney Chris Stewart said they appreciate Mr. Sharpton’s support, but “the funeral is only going to be close family members,” the Daily News reported.

“The Reverend Al has called and expressed his support and condolences,” Mr. Stewart said. “The family is very appreciative.”

Mr. Sharpton gave a speech last year at the Ferguson funeral for 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was fatally shot by former Officer Darren Wilson.

He said he has been in touch with the Scott family but insisted “we had no plans to go down” to South Carolina.

“They are in mourning, and we would never come unless they asked,” Mr. Sharpton told the Daily News. “We’re willing to be helpful to the family but only when needed.”

The civil rights leader released a statement Friday morning adding that, “I have been invited to preach in North Charleston, S.C., on Sunday and to help lead a healing prayer vigil that afternoon by local clergy who have worked on this case from the beginning,” the Daily News reported.

Former North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager, 33, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder after video footage surfaced showing him firing eight shots at the back of 50-year-old Scott as he ran away.

Mr. Sharpton has slammed the shooting death as “senseless” and proposed nationalizing the country’s police forces as a way to curb police brutality, the Daily News reported.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/10/walter-scotts-family-wants-al-sharpton-to-butt-out/