Politics: The former police officer who fatally shot unarmed black man Walter Scott is pleading guilty

Michael Slager will plead guilty to violating the civil rights of Michael Scott, an unarmed black man he fatally shot.

A former South Carolina police officer is expected to plead guilty on Tuesday in federal court to violating the civil rights of an unarmed black man he fatally shot.

Michael Slager, formerly a patrol officer in the North Charleston Police Department, shot Walter Scott in the back when Scott ran away after a traffic stop in April 2015.

The incident was caught on video by a bystander. The video was widely shared on the internet, viewed millions of times, and set off a firestorm of criticism of how Slager handled the situation.

Slager faced charges of murder and violation of federal civil rights in connection with the shooting. State prosecutors are dropping the murder charge, according to a copy of the plea agreement obtained by The Associated Press.

Slager said during his trial last year that he was justified in shooting Scott — eight times, according to the video — because he was "scared." The North Charleston police chief, however, said he was "sickened" by Slager's actions.

The incident began when Slager pulled over Scott's 1991 Mercedes because it had a broken tail light. Scott fled the vehicle, and Slager ran after him.

Slager testified that he was trying to subdue Scott with a Taser when Scott wrestled it out of the officer's hands.

Scott "was extending his right arm, leaning forward, and coming at me," Slager said. "I saw that Taser coming at me, and I knew I was in trouble. I knew I was overpowered."

Jurors considered both murder charges and manslaughter charges in Slager's initial trial. The trial hinged on whether the 12 jurors — 11 of whom were white — could reasonably think Slager was in life-threatening danger when he shot Scott.

Slager's initial trial on state murder charges ended in a hung jury in December.

Slager is expected to plead guilty to one federal charge of excessive use of force on Tuesday afternoon, a source with direct knowledge told CNN. The charge is punishable by up to life in prison.

This story is developing.

Here's the dash-cam footage from Slager's vehicle before the shooting. The shooting is not shown in this video.

Michael Slager will plead guilty to violating the civil rights of Michael Scott, an unarmed black man he fatally shot. Read Full Story