Protesters marched under the eye of armed National Guard troops, chanting “Resist the police” along with calls for the video of Tuesday’s shooting of Keith Scott, a 43-year-old father of seven, to be made public. It does not indicate whether Scott had a gun.
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A cell phone video has been released by the wife of Keith Lamont Scott before and after he was fatally shot by a Charlotte police officer earlier this week. Scott’s wife can be heard pleading with the officers not to shoot.
In the video, released by the family to media outlets, Scott’s wife can be heard shouting “Keith, Keith, don’t do it”, before the shots rang out.
In the days leading up to Monday’s first presidential debate, both Clinton and Republican Donald Trump have been confronted with questions about police violence after the North Carolina shooting and a separate incident in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a white police officer was charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man whose vehicle had broken down in the middle of the street. This is an emotional issue, even in this case where the police chief, the police officer who fired the fatal shot and the victim all are African Americans. It was not clear from the video whether police heard the wife nor the nature of any injury Scott may have sustained. The family said Scott was carrying a book but police said they recovered a gun.
Still, Putney has previously said that the video, when considered with the rest of the evidence, supports the police account.
The video shows Mr Scott lying face down with officers standing and kneeling around him.
Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts said the footage was “inconclusive” as to whether Keith was holding a gun. Putney said Friday that releasing the footage of Scott’s death could inflame the situation. Part of the reason that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department won’t release the footage is because they have turned over the investigation to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), which will run an independent probe.
After the shooting, she tells officers “I’m not coming near you”.
“It’s a matter of when and a matter of sequence”, he said.
“We must continue in the pursuit of the truth while also continuing the important work of bringing our communities and law enforcement together to build trust and safety for all”, Cooper said.
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Campaign spokesman Nick Merrill told reporters Friday more details will be forthcoming about Clinton’s trip. On Wednesday, a man was shot in what authorities called a “civilian-on-civilian” incident during protests and on died Thursday, police said.
