A week after Walter L. Scott was shot to death by a police officer, hundreds of mourners gathered for his funeral service in Summerville, S.C.  SUMMERVILLE, S.C. — Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday for the funeral of Walter L. Scott, the black man whose killing by a white police officer was captured on video, instantly catapulting a once anonymous forklift operator and father of four into the nation’s debate about excessive use of force by the police.  The pastor at WORD Ministries Christian Center, where Mr. Scott worshiped, minced no words, telling the standing-room-only crowd that Mr. Scott had died because he was black. The pastor, the Rev. George D. Hamilton, stressed that most law enforcement officers serve honorably, but he urged the members of South Carolina’s congressional delegation who attended the funeral to take up the issue of police killings in Washington so that African-Americans “don’t have to be scared every time they get pulled over.”  “There is no doubt in my mind,” Mr. Hamilton said. “I feel Walter’s death was motivated by racial prejudice.”  Mr. Scott, 50, died on April 4 after Michael T. Slager, a North Charleston police officer with five years’ experience, pulled him over because of a broken taillight. When the officer went to his patrol car, presumably to run the driver’s name through his computer and process a traffic citation, Mr. Scott left his vehicle and started running, a police dashboard video showed.  Another video, taken seconds later by a bystander, shows a brief encounter between the two men, and then Mr. Scott trying to get away. The officer, 33, fired eight times at Mr. Scott as he fled, hitting him in the back. The bystander’s video showed Mr. Slager later dropping something alongside Mr. Scott’s body, and many viewers have speculated that the object was the officer’s Taser gun. The police initially said Mr. Slager had told investigators that he chased down Mr. Scott on foot and then feared for his safety after the man tried to seize the Taser gun.  Mr. Hamilton said that the killing of Mr. Scott was an act of hatred, born of racism.  “This hate could not be because this person knew Walter. The hate was because Walter was African-American,” Mr. Hamilton said. “No one just empties a clip into a man’s back.”  He called Mr. Slager “a disgrace to the North Charleston Police Department” and an embarrassment to other officers.  “We will not indict the entire law enforcement community for the act of an individual racist,” Mr. Hamilton said. “Honest cops live to serve with distinction. We thank God for them. This particular cop was a racist.”  On Tuesday, the same day the bystander’s video became public, Mr. Slager was arrested on a charge of murder; the next day, city officials announced that he had been fired. He was being held at Charleston County’s jail on Saturday without bond.  “I can’t fathom that Michael would ever do anything to hurt anybody purposely,” the officer’s mother, Karen Sharpe, said in an interview Friday. “He enjoyed his job. He liked being a police officer.”  The pastor’s remarks were in sharp contrast to the atmosphere of calm and forgiveness set by Mr. Scott’s family over the past few days. Mr. Scott’s younger brother said his sibling’s death would serve a purpose.  “My brother’s death was the catalyst for change in America,” Rodney Scott said.  Mr. Scott’s parents, Walter and Judy, did not speak to reporters on Saturday, but a lawyer for the family, L. Chris Stewart, said they believed Mr. Scott’s legacy was already secure.  “Their son is going to be remembered for changing the way that we look at each other,” Mr. Stewart said. “Because next time something does happen to an individual, be he African-American, you will now think maybe there is another side to the story, maybe the police report needs to be looked into. And if that’s what Walter Scott died to prove, then I can tell you the family is just fine with that, because his legacy is going to live on.”  Representative James E. Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina, attended the funeral and said he was not surprised by Mr. Hamilton’s strong sermon.  “This is an issue that has caused so much pain and grief,” Mr. Clyburn said. “I think it would be hypocritical of him not to speak to it head-on.”  The mourners included at least two other members of South Carolina’s congressional delegation, both Republicans: Senator Tim Scott and Representative Mark Sanford, the former governor. The Charleston County sheriff attended the service, as did at least four members of the State Legislature.  Mr. Sanford called it a “beautiful, spirit-filled service,” and said Congress would address the issues raised by the shooting.  “We’ll come back to legislative remedies,” Mr. Sanford said after the service.  So many people showed up for the funeral that many mourners had to stay outside in the rain. Before Mr. Scott’s coffin, covered with a flag, was brought into the sanctuary, at least 500 people had gathered outside.  Some of the people who paid their respects said they had not known Mr. Scott, a Coast Guard veteran and a born-again Christian who studied massage therapy, but who had child support debts that may have led him to run from the police.  “There’s something inside of you that makes you want to be there for his family; you’re feeling what they are feeling,” said Stella King, a North Charleston resident who attended with her three adult daughters and a grandson. “They’re always saying how black people don’t care about each other. Well, in times like these, they see we really do.”  A version of this article appears in print on April 12, 2015, on page A14 of the New York edition with the headline: Pastor Denounces Racism at Funeral of Man Killed by South Carolina Officer. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Mourners lined up at the church in South Carolina on Saturday, including many who had never met Mr. Scott, and heard a pastor denounce racism.