The family issued a statement as Police Chief Kerr Putney urged officers to be professional as the city braced for a possible third night of violence.
Advertisement
Scott’s death is the latest to stir passions in the United States over the police use of deadly force against black men.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Thursday, prosecutors charged a white officer with manslaughter for killing an unarmed black man on a city street last week.
Mayor Jennifer Roberts told the NewsHour on Wednesday that city officials wanted “the community to be patient as we put together all the facts”. Local officers’ ranks were augmented by Guard members carrying rifles and guarding office buildings against the threat of property damage.
A midnight until 6am curfew imposed by the mayor aimed to add a stopping point for the demonstrations but many marched on past 12am, with police saying they would not enforce the curfew as long as the demonstrations remained peaceful.
People run from flash-bang grenades in uptown Charlotte, NC during a protest of the police shooting of Keith Scott, in Charlotte, North Carolina, US September 21, 2016.
The authorities have so far refused to release police video of the incident.
“I can tell you a weapon was seized – a handgun”, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said in Wednesday’s press conference. Bamberg told reporters that police need to be more transparent in their conversations with the public and with the family. “The question is on the timing”.
The protest was peaceful in contrast to the violence that erupted the past two nights.
Protesters walk in the streets downtown during another night of protests over the police shooting of Keith Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Bamberg represented the family of Walter Scott, the SC man who was shot and killed by a North Charleston police officer, and now represents the family of Alton Sterling. Neighbors, though, have said that he was holding only a book.
“Police say he came out of the vehicle with a gun”. However, he says other evidence supports the version of events the police have provided. They said it was impossible to see if Scott had anything in his hands, and when he was shot, his “hands were by his side and he was slowly walking backwards”.
Scott’s family has said he was holding a book – not a gun. The officer has been placed on leave while that shooting is investigated. “It is my understanding that his wife saw him get shot and killed”, Bamberg said.
Advertisement
“Quite frankly, because of the climate we’re in, I think the city of Charlotte has a right to see that video”, said Charlote NAACP President Corine Mack.
