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Charlotte protests prompt state of emergency

Roberts said the curfew will be in effect until further notice from midnight until six in the morning, local media reported.

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Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said the footage of Scott’s killing could undermine the investigation.

One protester Al Jazeera spoke with, when asked why they were marching after midnight, simply said: “Because black lives matter”.

Bamberg said Scott was involved in a “very bad accident approximately a year ago, suffered some pretty severe bodily injuries, suffered some head trauma”.

A third night of protests following the fatal police shooting of a black man in Charlotte turned uglier yesterday night as police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators blocking a main highway.

Protesters here were peaceful early Thursday night but, as the night went on, they grew tense as police in riot gear blocked roads as the crowds grew restive.

Justin Bamberg, a lawyer speaking on behalf of the family, described the viewing as “incredibly difficult” and said it left the family with “more questions than answers”.

His family was shown the footage on Thursday and demanded that police release it to the public. Scott’s family and a witness, however, said he was holding a book, not a gun.

The family of the man who police fatally shot on Tuesday said footage of the shooting did not shed light on the incident.

However, it was unclear if he was holding a gun, as police say.

“When you see the same officers over and over again, that’s what hopefully builds the trust”, Hartman said. He said the footage is consistent with the officers’ claim that Scott was shot after he exited his vehicle brandishing a gun.

There is also dash and body camera video of the incident, but both the police and Scott family attorneys caution the tape may not show a complete picture of the events.

Numerous protesters dispute the official account of Scott’s death, but Putney told reporters he would not release the video at this time, in part to protect the investigation.

“What I can tell you, though, is when taken in the totality of all the other evidence, it supports what we’ve heard and the version of the truth that we gave”. “But in America, we’re black and we’re white”. His family and a witness say he was holding a book, not a firearm, when he was killed.

In a court filing, Tulsa district attorney’s chief investigator Doug Campbell said Mr Crutcher was shot when reaching into his car’s driver’s side front window.

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The decision to withhold the video of Mr Scott’s death from the public was criticised by the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, and members of the clergy from the Charlotte area.

Emergency declared after violent clashes in Charlotte