CHARLOTTE – Police in
Charlotte say that, for the moment, they do not plan to release a
video showing the fatal shooting of a black man by officers. The event has
sparked two nights of violent protests in North Carolina’s largest city, the
department’s chief said on Thursday.The video will only be shown to the family of Keith
Lamont Scott, 43, who was shot dead by a black police officer in the
parking lot of an apartment complex on Tuesday afternoon, Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Police Chief Kerr Putney said.Governor Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency during
Wednesday night’s rioting, sending National Guard to Charlotte. In a Thursday the governor said that there would be no tolerance of any type of violence following
protests. Riots on Wednesday saw one man critically wounded by a
gunshot. At least eight more civilians and four police officers were injured
and 44 people arrested for charges ranging from assault to failure to disperse.Many of the protesters dispute the official account of Scott’s
death. Police contend he was carrying a gun when he approached officers and
ignored repeated orders to drop it. His family and a witness say he was holding
a book, not a firearm, when he was killed.”I’m not going to release the video right now,” Putney
told reporters, Thursday morning.He said the video supports the police account of what happened,
but does not definitively show Scott pointing a gun at officers.The decision to withhold the video footage from the public was
criticized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
and clergy members from the Charlotte area.In a press conference N.C. NAACP executive
director Reverend William Barber said he condemned the violence and
destruction seen in the protests, but he would not condemn the rage about the
death of Scott and other black men by police officers.”There must be transparency and the videos must be
released,” said Barber.LYNCH TO SEND ‘COMMUNITY MEDIATORS’ TO CHARLOTTECounty prosecutors on Thursday asked the state to open a probe
into Scott’s death and also said they were providing information for a federal
review.Members of the Congressional Black Caucus walked to the Justice
Department on Thursday to deliver a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch
demanding action.”Enough is enough. One is too many,” said
Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC). “The Department of Justice must
aggressively pursue investigations, indictments, and yes, prosecutions against
any and all law-enforcement officers who harm or kill innocent, unarmed
African-American citizens.”Lynch said the Justice Department would be sending four
community mediators to Charlotte.Overnight, protesters were seen looting, smashing windows
and grabbing items from a convenience store as well as a shop that sells
athletic wear for the National Basketball Association’s Charlotte Hornets.
Protesters also set fire to trash cans.BANK EMPLOYEES TOLD TO STAY HOMEHundreds of additional state police officers and National Guard
troops will be deployed to Charlotte’s streets on Thursday to prevent a repeat
of the violence, Putney said. But officials said they had no plans to impose a
curfew.”It should be business as usual,” Putney said.
“We don’t see the need to definitively shut the city down at a specific
hour.”However, large Charlotte employers including Bank of America
Corp and Wells Fargo & Co told employees not to go to uptown offices on Thursday
but work from home.Officials initially said that a man had died during the protests
and also that he had been shot by a civilian. Putney on Thursday said the
department was looking into allegations that he had been shot by a police
officer.The American Civil Liberties Union has called on the police in
Charlotte to release camera footage of the incident. Authorities have said the
officer who shot Scott, Brentley Vinson, was in plainclothes and not wearing a
body camera. But according to officials, video was recorded by other officers
and by cameras mounted on patrol cars.Todd Walther, the Charlotte Fraternal Order of Police official,
said releasing the video would satisfy some people, but not everyone, he added.”The clear facts will come out and the truth will come out.
It’s unfortunate to say that we have to be patient, but that’s the way it’s
going to have to be,” Walter said.Reuters News Service
contributed to this report.
After violent protests Charlotte works to clean up, while Charlotte police urge patience on release of shooting video
"The clear facts will come out and the truth will come out. Its unfortunate to say that we have to be patient, but thats the way its going to have to be," said Todd Walther, the Charlotte Fraternal Order of Police.
