A day after North Carolina’s governor declared a state of emergency amid violent protests following the police killing of a black man, Charlotte’s police chief said Thursday the agency will not publicly release video footage of Keith Lamont Scott’s death.
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One person was shot and seriously wounded and 44 were arrested as protests swept through downtown Charlotte late on Wednesday and early Thursday, triggered by the latest in a string of police-involved killings of black men that have fuelled outrage across the United States. However, the city’s mayor and police imposed a midnight-to-6 a.m. curfew.
Scott’s family has seen the police video and said in a statement it was “impossible to discern” what Scott was holding in his hands.
In a statement, family lawyer Justin Bamberg said though the videos were hard to watch, their release would serve transparency and the greater public good.
The family says the footage showed Scott walking slowly backward with his hands by his sides when he was shot.
His family and a witness to the shooting said Scott was holding a book, not a firearm.
Police say Scott refused repeated commands to drop his gun, but residents say he was unarmed.
Justin Bamberg, an attorney for Scott’s family, watched the video with the slain man’s relatives.
Mr Scott was killed on Tuesday as part of a police search for another suspect in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Reykia Scott, Scott’s wife, released a statement Thursday, urging protesters to be peaceful. He said Scott gets out of his vehicle calmly.
Earlier, police had fired tear gas and non-lethal projectiles to break up crowds blocking traffic on a highway. City officials say Carr was not shot by an officer.
The video shows three police officers around her husband – two standing near him and another kneeling over him – in an open area close to the front of a police SUV.
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.
The Associated Press said that as daylight began go fade, the protesters formed a circle and chanted several slogans, including “We believe that we will win”.
However, members of Scott’s family watched the footage yesterday, raising “more questions than answers”, their lawyers said.
Putney was adamant that Scott posed a threat, even if he didn’t point his weapon at officers, and said a gun was found next to the dead man.
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. However, he says other evidence supports the version of events the police have provided.
“The grievance in their mind is that the animus, the anger – they hate white people, because white people are successful and they’re not”, Rep. Robert Pittenger, a Republican, said on the BBC’s “Newsnight”.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney, Mayor Jennifer Roberts, and Executive Director of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Willie Ratchford discussed what investigators knew about the case.
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“Some people do a lot of bad, and sometimes you need to see your reflection in the mirror”, he said.
