Police said they had recovered a loaded gun with Scott’s DNA on it, and that he wore an ankle holster.
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The videos – one taken from an officer’s body camera and another from the dashboard camera of a police vehicle – show Keith Lamont Scott, 43, exiting his vehicle and falling to the ground.
The officers say they identified themselves as police and gave Scott orders to drop the gun, which he refused, according to the narrative.
The city was still healing from the shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell, an unarmed black man who was shot by a white police officer in 2013 when Mr Scott’s death reopened old wounds, protesters have said. That footage does not show when shots are fired, and Scott is already on the ground.
An attorney for the Scott family, Justin Bamberg, said the video appears to show Scott walking backwards and not posing a threat before he was shot, and it isn’t clear from the footage that he had a gun.
“Because of that, the officers had probable cause to arrest him for the drug violation and to further investigate Mr. Scott being in possession of the gun”, Putney said, adding that the “combination of illegal drugs and the gun” was cause enough for the officers to “take enforcement action for public safety concerns”.
Before the release, hundreds massed outside at the Charlotte police department building on Saturday afternoon chanting the name “Keith Scott”.
Putney reemphasized Saturday that Scott had a handgun and added that he was also in possession of marijuana.
Family of Keith Scott, who was killed on Tuesday, said the footage showed Scott was not acting aggressively and said the police shooting did not make sense.
“One of the biggest questions is, do those actions, do those precious seconds, justify this shooting?” he said. Protesters also gathered in Baltimore, Maryland, and Oakland, California, in solidarity with those demanding justice for Scott’s fatal shooting.
Another lawyer for the Scott family, Charles Monnett, said, “We don’t know enough of the facts to know whether this officer should be charged”.
In the video, she tells the police that her husband has a traumatic brain injury as they scream for him to put down a gun, CNN reported. But he says pay attention as Keith Scott comes out of his auto, using his left hand to open the door, saying clearly there is no gun in that hand.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief, Kerr Putney, speaks to the media about the release of police video.
The city has been on edge ever since Scott’s shooting death.
Unlike Saturday night, some of the demonstrations over the past week have become violent and disorderly, with protesters looting and vandalizing businesses.
But Scott’s family and residents disputed the police claim, insisting that Scott was holding a book instead of a gun.
The controversial death has made Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city and a financial centre, the latest flashpoint in two years of tense protests over US police killings of black men, a lot of them unarmed. Community organizers have said they expected that protests would continue in some form until the videos were released.
Scott’s mother, Vernita Scott Walker, told the Herald earlier this week she wants Charlotte police to “tell the truth and stop lying”. A suspect was arrested, but police provided few details.
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.
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On Thursday, protests were largely peaceful after National Guard members came to the city to help keep order and the mayor imposed a curfew.
