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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. The Rev. Al Sharpton thanked the mayor and police chief in North Charleston on Sunday for their response to the fatal shooting of Walter Scott.

Sharpton gave the sermon at Charity Missionary Baptist Church, where Mayor Keith Summey and Police Chief Eddie Driggers were among those in the congregation. Later, he led a vigil for a small crowd in the grassy, fenced-in area where Scott, 50, was fatally shot after fleeing a traffic stop April 4.

Then-officer Michael Slager initially said Scott was shot after a tussle over his Taser, but witness video later surfaced showing Scott being shot as he ran away. Slager was fired and has been charged with murder.

Scotts death was criticized as another police shooting of an unarmed black man by a white officer under questionable circumstances. In Sharptons commendation of the citys response, he said the mayor and police chiefs swift action could set the tone for handling future questions of police misconduct across the country.

Despite the citys response and Sharptons praise, theres still a lingering sense of skepticism about whether Scotts death would have been thoroughly investigated without the witness video. The mayor and the chief, they did what they had to do because none of us are blind, Keith White, 60, of North Charleston, said before the church service. Everyone saw the video and they did what they were forced to do once that video became public.

The response by city officials and the local community hasnt been similar to that of Ferguson, Missouri, where protests after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown and a grand jurys decision not to indict the officer who shot him turned violent and exposed striking social rifts between black and white residents in the area.

Photo: AP

Some North Charleston residents have said they suspect abuse of power and public trust among law enforcement as issues that may have played a more pivotal role than race in Scotts death.

Its not about the color of your skin, its about social justice. When we all practice social justice were all free, said Mattese Lecque, a North Charleston resident who heard Sharpton preach Sunday. Sometimes it takes disaster to bring about change, and thats whats happening now.

Before concluding his sermon, Sharpton mentioned that South Carolina is an important state in the upcoming presidential race. He charged the congregation with pressing candidates about their stances on community policing.

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Sharpton leads memorial for shooting victim Walter Scott

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. During a sermon at a North Charleston church, the Rev. Al Sharpton said Sunday that swift action taken by a white mayor and police chief in the South could set the tone for handling future questions of police misconduct across the country.

"It's not about black and white. It's about right and wrong," Sharpton said. "What this mayor did is what we've been asking mayors to do all over the country: Not do us a favor, just enforce the law."

The tone of the local community's response to the shooting death of Walter Scott, 50, has been different than other instances of unarmed black men being fatally shot by white police officers, including the violent demonstrations from people in Ferguson, Missouri after Michael Brown's death.

Sharpton preached at the Charity Missionary Baptist Church and commended Mayor Keith Summey and Police Chief Eddie Driggers both of whom were in the congregation and at a later vigil at the grassy vacant lot where Scott was shot to death.

The shooting was captured on dramatic video that was taken by a witness. Scott was shot after fleeing a traffic stop by then-officer Michael Slager. The officer initially said Scott was shot after a tussle over his Taser, but the witness video that later surfaced showed Scott being shot at eight times as he ran away. Slager was fired and has been charged with murder.

Scott's death was criticized as yet another fatal shooting involving an unarmed black man by a white officer under questionable circumstances.

Some North Charleston community members said they suspect abuse of power and the abuse of public trust played more of a role than race in the shooting.

"It's not about the color of your skin, it's about social justice. When we all practice social justice, we're all free," said Mattese Lecque, a North Charleston resident who heard Sharpton preach. "Sometimes it takes disaster to bring about change, and that's what's happening now."

The chants, hymns and calls for more police accountability during small rallies in North Charleston have echoed those in Ferguson, Missouri.

However, many in the North Charleston area have said they don't want to see the burned-out buildings, broken windows and social tension that characterized Ferguson after Brown's shooting and the announcement that a grand jury wouldn't indict the officer who shot him.

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Sharpton leads service to remember SC police shooting victim

David Goldman/AP Photo

The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks during a service at Charity Missionary Baptist Church in the wake of the death of Walter Scott, the black driver who was fatally shot by a white police officer after he fled a traffic stop, Sunday, April 12, 2015, in North Charleston, S.C. The officer, Michael Thomas Slager, has been fired and charged withmurder.

By Phillip Lucas, Associated Press

Sunday, April 12, 2015 | 1:19 p.m.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. The Rev. Al Sharpton thanked the mayor and police chief in North Charleston, S.C., for their response to the fatal shooting of Walter Scott during a sermon Sunday morning at a local church.

Sharpton appeared at Charity Missionary Baptist Church, where mayor Keith Summey and Police Chief Eddie Driggers were among those in the congregation.

Scott, 50, was fatally shot after fleeing a traffic stop on April 4. Former officer Michael Slager initially said Scott was shot after a tussle over his Taser, but witness video later surfaced showing Scott being shot as he ran away. Slager was fired and has been charged with murder.

Scott's death was criticized as another police shooting of an unarmed black man by a white officer under questionable circumstances. In Sharpton's commendation of the city's response, he said the mayor and police chief's swift action could set the tone for handling future questions of police misconduct across the country.

Despite the city's response and Sharpton's praise, there's still a lingering sense of skepticism about whether Scott's death would have been thoroughly investigated without the witness video.

"The mayor and the chief, they did what they had to do because none of us are blind," Keith White, 60, of North Charleston, said before the church service. "Everyone saw the video and they did what they were forced to do once that video became public."

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Sharpton thanks mayor, police chief for response to S.C. shooting

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- The Rev. Al Sharpton thanked the mayor and police chief in North Charleston on Sunday for their response to the fatal shooting of Walter Scott.

Sharpton gave the sermon at Charity Missionary Baptist Church, where Mayor Keith Summey and Police Chief Eddie Driggers were among those in the congregation. Later, he led a vigil for a small crowd in the grassy, fenced-in area where Scott, 50, was fatally shot after fleeing a traffic stop April 4.

Scott's death was criticized as another police shooting of an unarmed black man by a white officer under questionable circumstances. In Sharpton's commendation of the city's response, he said the mayor and police chief's swift action could set the tone for handling future questions of police misconduct across the country.

Despite the city's response and Sharpton's praise, there's still a lingering sense of skepticism about whether Scott's death would have been thoroughly investigated without the witness video.

"The mayor and the chief, they did what they had to do because none of us are blind," Keith White, 60, of North Charleston, said before the church service. "Everyone saw the video and they did what they were forced to do once that video became public."

The response by city officials and the local community hasn't been similar to that of Ferguson, Missouri, where protests after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown and a grand jury's decision not to indict the officer who shot him turned violent and exposed striking social rifts between black and white residents in the area.

Some North Charleston residents have said they suspect abuse of power and public trust among law enforcement as issues that may have played a more pivotal role than race in Scott's death.

"It's not about the color of your skin, it's about social justice. When we all practice social justice we're all free," said Mattese Lecque, a North Charleston resident who heard Sharpton preach Sunday. "Sometimes it takes disaster to bring about change, and that's what's happening now."

Before concluding his sermon, Sharpton mentioned that South Carolina is an important state in the upcoming presidential race. He charged the congregation with pressing candidates about their stances on community policing.

"Don't let anybody run for president and come through South Carolina without addressing what they would do as president of the United States about police accountability," Sharpton said.

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Rev. Al Sharpton leads memorial for South Carolina driver shot by cop

The Rev. Al Sharpton addresses the congregation during services on Sunday at Charity Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston. PAUL ZOELLER/STAFF

In front of a somber mayor and a sheriff who later asked for salvation, the Rev. Al Sharpton said during a Sunday morning sermon in North Charleston that the city could set a new tone for American policing.

Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network, appeared at Charity Missionary Baptist Church during a healing service for 50-year-old Walter L. Scott, an unarmed black man whose killing by a white North Charleston police officer was caught on video a little more than a week ago.

The service portrayed how community activists, from local ones to Sharpton in New York City, reacted to Scotts death and, in some cases, ultimately played a role in the arrest of the man who shot him.

It also came on a day when Malik Shabazz, a lead organizer of protests in Ferguson, Mo., who once led the New Black Panther Party, announced a mass demonstration at 5 p.m. Monday outside City Hall and vowed to take the struggle against police brutality to a whole new level.

During Sharptons sermon, Mayor Keith Summey and Police Chief Eddie Driggers sat near the front of the sanctuary and listened to the civil rights activist rail against police misconduct in the U.S. and refer to North Charlestons past as one pockmarked with social injustices. Two protesters stood outside the church on East Montague Avenue and carried signs about police abuses.

But Sharpton spoke passionately as he praised the city leaders for promptly firing Patrolman 1st Class Michael T. Slager when the video surfaced and for announcing the officers arrest on a murder charge. That set North Charleston apart from places like Ferguson and New York City, where 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and Eric Garner was choked to death by police officers who were not criminally faulted, Sharpton said.

When hes wrong ... we protest, he said of mayors like Summey. When hes right, we should have the same courage to say hes right.

Summey has been distraught and disappointed since he watched the video, he later said, but the service gave him some peace.

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Sharpton: In wake of Walter Scotts death, North Charleston could set new tone in policing nationwide