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, Mo.
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People outraged over the fatal shooting of Keith Scott, 43, by a black officer in an apartment complex parking lot about 10 miles from Uptown took to the streets to protest what they saw as a tragic reminder of racial bias in policing in their city and country. At one point during the evening, protesters stopped to block an intersection near Bank of America’s headquarters and chanted “release the tape”, but when police and the National Guard moved in, protesters moved on.
Several dozen protesters then broke off from the crowd and climbed onto an interstate highway, but were quickly pushed back by police in riot gear.
After two nights of violence in the streets Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday’s protests were largely peaceful.
Forty-four people were arrested, and one protester was shot and critically wounded; city officials said police did not shoot the man. He was charged with murder in the death of 26-year-old Justin Carr, who died Thursday at Carolinas Medical Center. Local officers’ ranks were augmented by Guard members carrying rifles and guarding office buildings against the threat of property damage.
Also at the news conference, officials said the midnight-to-6 a.m. curfew that was announced Thursday night will be in place again Friday night.
As midnight passed, Capt. Mike Campagna told The Associated Press that they were not going to enforce the curfew by removing protesters off the streets since they were being peaceful.
Two officers were being treated by EMS after they were reportedly “sprayed with a chemical agent by demonstrators” mere minutes before the curfew was set to begin.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney had originally said he didn’t plan to release police video footage of the shooting.
Putney said Scott was armed and no book was found at the scene.
“It’s time for the voiceless majority to stand up and be heard”, said the police chief, who is black. Justin Bamberg, an attorney for Scott’s relatives, said the videos, from dashboard and body cameras worn by CMPD officers showed Scott getting out of his vehicle when ordered to by officers. There are also dash cam recordings and investigators are reviewing the footage, Putney said.
He did not give other details about what the wife saw.
However, members of Scott’s family watched the footage on Thursday, raising “more questions than answers”, their lawyers said.
“It’s time to change the narrative because I can tell you from the facts that the story’s a little bit different as to how it’s been portrayed so far, especially through social media”, he said.
Last week’s fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man in Tulsa, Oklahoma, sparked protests after video of the killing was aired Monday. Be clear: “There is unrest in Charlotte and across America because of what we do know”.
“Black lives don’t matter in this country”, said a 34-year-old protester with a mask around his neck who identified himself only as “Amen-Ra”. A person depicted in a video can request release of the footage, but if the request is denied, the person must challenge the decision in court. “And it was not easy to see.so it is ambiguous”, she replied.
The family wants police to release the videos immediately to the public, Bamberg said.
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Putney said during a news conference Friday that he can not release more information about the shooting because his department is not leading the investigation, which is being conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation.
