The wife of Keith Lamont Scott has already made public her own footage, in which she can be heard pleading for police not to shoot her husband as he was unarmed.
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“There is no definitive visual evidence that he had a gun in his hand, you can see something in the hand, and that he pointed it at an officer”.
In a police video, Scott was seen slowly walking backward out of his vehicle before the shooting.
Dramatic video has been released by Charlotte police that shows officers with guns drawn surrounding a black man with his hands at his side before shots are fired and he buckles and falls. Police blocked off downtown streets late into the night as they had throughout the day, allowing demonstrators to take over roadways without confrontations with vehicles. But they do not answer a crucial question about whether Mr Scott was holding a gun as police have said and Mr Scott’s family has denied.
But Mr Scott’s family lawyer, Justin Bamberg, said despite the new videos, it was still impossible to “clearly identify what, if anything, is in his hand, and that has not changed”. The two said they saw him rolling a marijuana joint. “He’s passively stepping back”.
Mr Scott’s brother-in-law Ray Dotch objected to reporters’ questions about Mr Scott’s background, saying he should not have to “humanise him in order for him to be treated fairly”. Scott “was an American citizen who deserves better”, he added.
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.
Police said witnesses confirmed that Mr Scott had ignored police instructions to drop the weapon and that forensic tests showed Mr Scott’s DNA and fingerprints on the loaded gun and that he had been wearing an ankle holster. When Scott comes into view, he has his hands at his side and is standing outside of his SUV.
A second body-camera video from an officer does not show the moment of shooting.
The investigation is still ongoing, Putney said, and that as more information can be released without affecting the investigation, he’ll release it.
Mr Putney said: “What I need is confirmation that when I release what I’m going to release, there is no adverse impact on the State Bureau of Investigation’s investigation”.
The chief told reporters, “Officers are absolutely not being charged by me at this point”.
“Our goal has from the beginning been to get the absolute unfiltered truth, and the only way to get that is for the police to release the videos that were released today”.
The statement described two plainclothes officers taking part in an unrelated operation and seeing Scott pull up next to them.
“Officer Vinson perceived Mr. Scott’s actions and movements as an imminent physical threat to himself and the other officers”, the statement said. His family says he was holding a book.
Putney said there was footage from the dashboard camera in one of the police cars, and at least one body camera. “He has a TBI [traumatic brain injury]”, Rakeyia Scott says in the video that she took. They also chanted, “No tapes, no peace” and raised signs including one reading “Stop Killing The Black People”.
Central to the protests are the differing accounts between police and Scott’s family over what led to his death. Demonstrators on Saturday gathered for a fifth day in the city’s centre.
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Forty-four people were arrested after Wednesday’s protests and one protester who was shot died in hospital on Thursday.
