The fatal shooting of the 43-year-old father of seven, Keith Lamont Scott, led to riots in Charlotte, which largely demanded the release of police footage.
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Police on Saturday afternoon finally released video footage of the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott and the dramatic images are more notable for what they don’t show: there is no clearly visible gun and Scott doesn’t raise any kind of weapon toward the officers.
Charlotte is the latest U.S. 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.
Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed on Tuesday (local time) at a Charlotte apartment complex during an encounter with police searching for another person wanted for arrest.
Bamberg said the videos show Scott’s demeanor was calm and non-aggressive, and that his hands were by his side and he was slowly walking backward when he was shot.
Police Chief Kerr Putney said that Scott was “absolutely in possession of a handgun”.
Putney said the officers saw Scott with marijuana but were not interested in him until he brought out a gun. Putney says Scott “absolutely” had a gun but that it’s not shown in his hand in the videos.
But Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney change his tune Saturday, telling reporters that people “want to see the facts, objective facts”.
Still, the video hadn’t been released as of an hour after the news conference. The two said they saw him rolling a marijuana joint.
Gov. Pat McCrory, who declared a state of emergency after the protests became violent again Wednesday, said in a statement that he agreed with Putney’s decision to release footage. The footage does not show the moment Scott was shot, but the video captures him on the ground afterward with other officers surrounding him.
At 4:48 p.m. EST, the Times blasted out a breaking news alert to announce the release, and bafflingly included the statement that Scott was unarmed. After Scott is shot, officers can be heard yelling “Man down!” and directing other officers to handcuff Scott. Riot police were deployed in the city after unlawful assembly was reported just after authorities released the official dashcam video of the shooting incident. Officer Vinson fired his issued serve weapon, striking Mr. Scott. According to the department, officers chose to arrest Scott after observing him both with a marijuana blunt and holding a gun as he sat in his auto.
Putney on Saturday said all evidence gathered by police made clear what happened, but the videos were insufficient to do so independently. After speaking with state legislatures he said it could now be released without “adversely impacting” the ongoing investigation.
Footage filmed by Scott’s wife, released Friday, shows police attending to Scott’s lifeless body on the pavement after being shot.
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Widespread calls were heard for release of police video footage from civic and political quarters – and even street protesters who chanted “Release the Tapes!” repeatedly outside police headquarters. Witnesses-and Scott’s widow, according to her video-said he wasn’t armed, and neighbors claimed he had only a book.
