Speculation surrounds the incident, with officers on the scene saying the 43-year-old was armed and other witnesses saying he was holding a book.
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At a press conference on Wednesday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Chief Kerr Putney said that officers gave the man multiple verbal warnings to drop his weapon before he was shot. As “incredibly hard” as it was for them to watch the footage, the family asked the Charlotte- Mecklenburg Police Department to release the videos “as a matter of the greater good and transparency”.
The videos show Keith Scott was calm, acting in a non-aggressive way and walking slowly backwards with hands by his sides when shot by police on Tuesday, the family’s lawyer said in a statement. “We have spent trillions of dollars on welfare, where we put people in bondage so that they can not be all that they’re capable of being”.
Pat Gray, 39, a digital strategy consultant, said the police response to destruction caused by protesters was lacking.
“You shouldn’t expect it to be released”, Mr Putney said. “I’m not going to jeopardize the investigation”.
Tulsa County prosecutors on Thursday charged the officer who shot Crutcher with first-degree manslaughter and issued a warrant for her arrest. The family’s lawyer said he could not tell whether Mr Scott was holding a gun. But Sen. Scott added, “I will say however that the releasing of the video can defuse some of the tension if what we’ll see on the video is helpful”.
Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney agreed to let Scott’s family watch those tapes, but refuses to share it publicly.
Robin Tanner, chair of the Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice, was among 40 local faith leaders who were on the street during Wednesday’s protests and were caught in a crossfire of tear gas as police in riot gear tried to rein in violent demonstrations. Charlotte is just the latest USA city to be shaken by protests and recriminations over the death of a black man at the hands of police, a list that includes Baltimore, Milwaukee, Chicago, New York and Ferguson, Missouri. Police have said they did not find a book in the vehicle or at the scene.
Protesters in the southern U.S. city fled after police with rifles fired the tear gas and what appeared to be rubber bullets, an AFP reporter on the scene said.
“Anywhere in the world, we’re Americans”, said James Scott, sitting in the back room of No Grease barber shop in Charlotte on Thursday afternoon. Police did not shoot the man, city officials said.
“He got out of his auto, he walked back to comply, and all his compliance did was get him murdered”, said Taheshia Williams, whose balcony overlooks the shady parking spot where Scott was Tuesday afternoon. “At this point, there is speculation because the videos have not been released”.
Democrat Hillary Clinton discussed the unrest in calls to the Charlotte mayor and US Congresswoman Alma Adams Thursday, her campaign said. In Charlotte we have a long tradition of working together to solve our problems.
The attorney says the family wants to know the truth but worries about the emotional impact if the video is released.
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Even potted plants, used the previous night as projectiles, were back in place along the sidewalk outside the Omni.
