Chaos gripped downtown Charlotte Wednesday night as protests against the fatal police shooting of a black man devolved into violence prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency in the city.
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The protests began Tuesday in response to the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, who was confronted by police outside a Charlotte condominium complex where officers had gone to serve an arrest warrant on another person.
The fatal shooting in Tulsa on Friday of Terence Crutcher was recorded by police vehicle dashboard cameras and a police helicopter camera. But several groups of a dozen or more protesters stayed behind, attacking people, including reporters, shattering windows to hotels, office buildings and restaurants and setting small fires.
At least four police officers and two civilians were injured Wednesday, officials said. Police then fired tear gas and the crowd of hundreds dispersed.
Mark Thompson, a radio host of Make it Plain, a show focusing on human rights, told Al Jazeera: “This is tragic”. It’s a very sad night for the people of Charlotte. As Dr [Martin Luther] King said, so-called riots are the language of the unheard.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Clinton said: “Keith Lamont Scott”. As the Two-Way reported yesterday, there are two different narratives of Scott’s shooting.
“You have to wonder what is the real rioting going on?”
While the vigil was peaceful – several attendees brought their children – the atmosphere changed dramatically once demonstrators walked to the nearby police headquarters, where one protester pulled the American flag to the bottom of its flagpole.
I’ve spoken to Mayor Roberts and have offered her the full assistance of the N.C. Department of Justice.
U.S. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said the protests were embarrassing and caused “utter chaos”.
The governor of North Carolina, Pat McCrory, declared a state of emergency in Charlotte as protests turned violent for a second night.
Police then unleashed volleys of rubber bullets, tear gas and flash-bang grenades to disperse the protesters, who began hurling fireworks and debris at officers outside the hotel. “We would like to see surveillance video from the surrounding area that may have captured the shooting to determine who was responsible for the shooting”.
In the southern state of Oklahoma, Tulsa police chief Chuck Jordan called video footage of Crutcher’s deadly shooting on Friday disturbing and “very hard to watch”.
“Just telling us this is still under investigation is not good enough for the windows of the Wal-Mart”, he said.
But while officials are eager to defuse the anger on the streets, many protesters were outraged that the police department has so far refused to release the body-cam and dashboard footage from the officers at the scene of Scott’s death.
Department spokesman Keith Trietley said that the 43-year-old got out of the auto and back in, and when officers approached he got out of the vehicle again with a gun, and at least one officer fired a weapon.
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The defense attorney for Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Randall Kerrick said Ferrell became aggressive, pounding his thighs and taunting Kerrick, saying, “Shoot me!”
