South Carolina Isn't Charging the Cop Who Shot an Unarmed White Teenager at a Burger Joint

Zachary Hammond's first date with Toni Morton involved weed, ice cream, and gunfire. On July 26, at around 8:20 PM, he pulled into a Hardee's parking lot in Seneca, South Carolina, where an undercover officer had allegedly arranged to buy ten grams of drugs from his companion. As an officer named Mark Tiller converged on the pair, Hammond hit the gas. The 19-year-old was was shot dead as his drug-dealing date snacked on a frozen treat.

Back in August, the New York Times reported that dash cam footage was forthcoming. That video was finally released Tuesday, around the same time Solicitor Chrissy Adams announced that Lieutenant Tiller won't be facing charges. It's the second disturbing recording of apparent police brutality to come out of the Palmetto State in as many days, and suggests that while police misconduct is a national phenomenon, some parts of America may still have it worse than others.

Details of the shooting were obviously disturbing when the news first broke, and not just because it was over a stupidly small amount of pot. Although police originally said Tiller shot Hammond because he was driving toward him, a second, private autopsy conducted by the family contradicts that claim, according to the Post and Courier, a local newspaper. That assessment found wounds in the teen's back and shoulder, which suggests he was actually driving away from the cop when he died. The just-released video seems to confirm the family's version of events.

At the time of Hammond's death, his story seemed like the latest to feature an unarmed teen, an officer with an itchy trigger-finger, and needless suffering. Criticism of police in South Carolina was still intense, as Walter Scott—an unarmed black man shot eight times in the back—had been killed just months earlier. But some began to opine online that, just as the conversation in America about police violence had reached a fever pitch, Hammond's name barely made headlines. As the Hammond family attorney, Eric Bland, told the Washington Post: "White-on-white crime does not get the same impact as white-on-black crime."

The Department of Justice is still investigating the circumstances surrounding Hammond's death, and federal charges could be forthcoming. A lawsuit filed by the deceased's family—which alleges that responding cops gave Hammond's dead body a high-five—is still pending in federal court.

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Zach Hammond