Geraldo Rivera justifies Walter Scott shooting: Officer's 'blood was boiling' after struggle

On Friday morning's Fox & Friends, Geraldo Rivera stated that, after seeing dashcam video from Officer Michael Slager's car, he believes the South Carolina police officer should be charged with manslaughter and not murder.

Unlike the video taken by Feidin Santana that showed a brief struggle between Slager and Scott before the officer calmly shot Scott multiple times in the back as he was fleeing, the new video shows the initial stop -- supposedly for a broken taillight --but  no physical interaction between the men.

Geraldo called Slager's pulling over of Scott  "a righteous traffic stop," adding that Scott was "acting very hinky and edgy," before cautioning viewers that they needed to put the whole incident in context.

"You don't see, but there is reliable, I think,  eyewitness account that there is then a struggle after the Taser. So, up until that point, the cop with his adrenaline pumping, now he’s been in a physical tussle, and now the perpetrator has reached for the Taser allegedly. Now it gives you the context of his blood boiling, " Geraldo explained. " [Slager] has done everything professional and now he’s had this, this civilian has dared to physically have this altercation with the officer. Put that in the officer’s head now. I think it saves him from the murder rap."

"Even when you see him shooting him the back dead?" a horrified Elizabeth Hasselbeck asked.

"Elizabeth, that is an excellent point," Rivera responded. "This is a horrible, horrible shooting, but there was no premeditation, this is manslaughter. I believe this is manslaughter and, were I the officer's attorney, I would begin negotiations for that plea immediately."

Watch the video, uploaded to YouTube by TPMTV: