Feds to investigate S.C. Highway Patrol troopers' behavior shown in videos

Columbia — The U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Carolina, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, is investigating behavior within the South Carolina Highway Patrol after The Post and Courier made public two video tapes capturing troopers using their cruisers to hit fleeing suspects on two occasions.

Kevin McDonald, acting U.S. Attorney for South Carolina, told the newspaper this morning that he would not characterize what he’d seen on the videos but that the content is “sufficient to warrant our involvement in looking into this matter.”

McDonald said the investigation would include a thorough review of several video tapes caught on South Carolina troopers' dashboard cameras and interviews with individuals.

McDonald said the videos were brought to his attention Wednesday morning and he viewed them online. The Post and Courier obtained the videos through the Freedom of Information Act and posted them on its Web site, Charleston.net.

“The substance of the videos was sufficient in my mind to warrant an investigation as to whether any federal crimes have occurred,” he said.

The tapes are being reviewed individually and any forthcoming prosecution would be handled individually, McDonald said. In general, it is within the U.S. Attorney’s Office power to prosecute through the federal grand jury and its agents can rely on the law enforcement resources of agencies such as the FBI and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Last month, videos released by the S.C. Department of Public Safety showed abuse of black suspects by troopers including a Greenwood County trooper yelling at one suspect, “You better run, (n-word), I’m fixin’ to kill you.” Another video from Clarendon County shows a white trooper handcuffing a black woman to the push bumper of his cruiser, where she remained for about 40 minutes before being left on the side of the road without transportation.

Public Safety Director James K. Schweitzer and Highway Patrol Col. Russell Roark resigned under pressure from Gov. Mark Sanford in late February following the release of the Greenwood County video.

The troopers involved, some of whom had prior disciplinary records, were given suspensions and remain on the force.