In a desperate bid to keep the killer cop off the stand, South Carolina cops settled for $2,150,000 with Zachary Hammond’s family in their wrongful death lawsuit.

(Article by Grant Stern, republished from https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2016/03/30/south-carolina-cops-pay-zachary-hammonds-family-2-15mm-wrongful-death-settlement/)

Seneca Police Lt. Mark Tiller shot and killed Hammond, then lied about the circumstances, claiming the teen tried to run him over.

But Tiller shot through the passenger window.

It was a small time marijuana sale gone horribly wrong.

Zachary Hammond’s passenger was the target.

South Carolina cops didn’t want to release the video, so three newspapers sued, seeking the truth for the 19-year old victim of the Drug War.

Now taxpayers will foot the bill for the disgraced South Carolina cop Lt. Tiller, who wasnot even criminally charged in state court for the gruesome shooting.

Fortunately, Uncle Sam took notice of the video released when state prosecutor Chrissy Adams ‘justified’ Hammond’s homicide, and the US Attorney began a criminal, federal civil rights investigation into Lt. Tiller.

Lt. Tiller was due to be deposed in the civil suit on, but didn’t want to take the standbecause according to his attorney’s request for a protective order:

Due to the open and active criminal investigation, requiring Mr. Tiller’s participation in his deposition for this matter will force him to confront the troubling prospect of either waiving his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, or repeatedly invoking this privilege to the detriment of his interest in the instant litigation … Mr. Tiller faces the prospect of profound criminal exposure as a result of the ongoing criminal investigation.  As a result, the active investigation profoundly and detrimentally impacts Mr. Tiller’s ability to participate in his upcoming deposition …

“The likelihood of a forthcoming indictment is more than mere speculation, as the federal investigation remains active with criminal investigative activity having occurred within the last 10 days.”

Now, the family will at least be spared a long trip through the Federal civil court system, but that will never bring back the son, brother or cousin lost to police violence in the Drug War.

Because the resistance to disclosure was dauntless, indicating to the world the ferocity and tragedy of Lt. Tiller’s killing of an unarmed teenager.

Last summer, in the days after the shooting, South Carolina cops refused to even release the Lieutenant’s name.

Read more at: https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2016/03/30/south-carolina-cops-pay-zachary-hammonds-family-2-15mm-wrongful-death-settlement/