Former South Carolina Trooper Pleads Guilty To Shooting Unarmed Black Man
On Sept. 24, 2014, South Carolina State Trooper Sean Groubert pulled over Levar Jones for an alleged seat belt violation. What should’ve been an ordinary traffic stop turned into a violent situation where Groubert shot into Jones car, hitting him in the hip.
Groubert, 32, pleaded guilty to shooting Jones that day and could face up to 20 years for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, which is the maximum sentence, according to the Huffington Post.
When Groubert stopped Jones in 2014, things allegedly turned violent when he asked him for his license. When Jones reached for it, Groubert yelled “Get out of the car” before firing off four rounds.
Jones, who was only hit once, asked Groubert why he shot him and the trooper responded with,”Bro, you dove head first back into your car,” according to WLTX. Just over two weeks later, Groubert was fired after the South Carolina Department of Public Safety reviewed the video.
Jones, who was present during the hearing on Monday, was awarded $265,000 by the state of South Carolina in exchange for declaring that he’d pursue no further lawsuits for the incident.
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