The White House said Wednesday that a video showing a police shooting of an unarmed black man in South Carolina is “hard to watch.”
{mosads}Press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters he has not spoken to President Obama personally about the incident but would not be surprised if the president has viewed the video.
“The video is awfully hard to watch,” Earnest said.
Earnest said the fact the shooting was caught on video helps bolster the case that police officers should wear body cameras.
The footage “changed the way” investigators looked at the case, Earnest said.
“It’s an example of how body cameras provided to police officers could have a positive impact in building trust between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve,” he added.
In December, the White House announced $263 million in funding for body cameras for 50,000 law enforcement officers.
North Charleston, S.C., police officer Michael Slager was charged with murder after the release of the video, which purportedly shows him shooting Walter Scott in the back, as Scott runs away from the officer.
Slager told authorities that he feared for his life because Scott had taken his Taser after a traffic stop.
–This report was updated at 3:13 p.m.