The Charlotte protesters came face to face with helmeted security forces in riot gear, who massed uptown but were briefly outnumbered by the hundreds of demonstrators who took over the streets, kicking police vehicles and breaking storefront glass. Protesters have been demanding justice and an end to police brutality for months. He said the man was shot because he posed a threat.
Advertisement
The victim, who was at first said to be dead, was shot by a civilian, not by the police, the city said. Police were not involved in the shooting.
Charlotte’s mayor Jennifer Roberts has called on peaceful protests as they continue to investigate this recent shooting, and says they are “in touch” with the White House.
Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was shot by a black officer on Tuesday.
“We’ve got brothers and sisters and children and fathers who think we’re not going to live to see the next day”.
Mayor Roberts said she planned to view the footage Thursday, but did not indicate if or when it would be made public. Those protests turned violent after several hours.
Go home and tell everyone violence is not the answer. North Carolina has a law that takes effect October 1 requiring a judge to approve releasing police video, and Putney said he doesn’t release video when a criminal investigation is ongoing.
Governor Pat McCrory said he launched efforts to deploy both the National Guard and state troopers to restore order to downtown Charlotte in response to a request from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney.
Any violence directed toward our citizens or police officers or destruction of property should not be tolerated.
Scott’s wife, Rakeiya Scott, released a statement Wednesday night questioned statements put forward by law enforcement officials.
Charlotte has spent two nights with violent clashes in the streets, angry at the killing of yet another black man by the police.
The chief said he was not certain whether Scott pointed his gun at officers. Scott was not the suspect they were seeking. His family and a witness say he was holding a book, not a firearm, when he was killed.
Police video may be the only thing that calms Charlotte, said John Barnett, who runs a civil rights group called True Healing Under God, or THUG.
“They shot my daddy ’cause he’s black”, she said. One woman was heard shouting, “Stop – that’s not what this is about”, as young men broke bottles in the street. Scott was surrounded by police and was shot after he exited the auto and did not obey officers’ instructions to drop his weapon, Putney said. Officer Brentley Vinson, who is black, then shot him. The plainclothes officer, identified as Brently Vinson, a two-year member of the department, has been placed on leave, standard procedure in such cases.
As the Crutcher family’s lawyers stated in a press conference on Monday, the police had it out for Crutcher, with clear audio from the police helicopter describing the deceased as a “big bad dude”.
Onlookers cheered as a masked man shattered a hotel window while another one hurled rocks through it. Others spray-painted “black lives matter” on business windows and smashed auto windows.
Advertisement
CBS News said court records show that Scott had a criminal record which includes an assault conviction.
