Demonstrators in Charlotte chant: ‘Release the tape!’
Police video becomes focus of third night of protests over shooting of black man
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Protesters massed on Charlotte’s streets for a third night Thursday in the latest sign of mounting pressure for police to release video that could resolve wildly different accounts of the shooting of a black man.
Demonstrators chanted “release the tape” and “we want the tape” while briefly blocking an intersection near Bank of America headquarters. Several dozen demonstrators climbed onto an interstate highway through the city, but they were pushed back by police in riot gear.
Still, the protests remained peaceful in the hours after night fell — and a midnight curfew imposed by the mayor aimed to add a firm stopping point for the demonstrations.
Members of the U.S. National Guard carrying rifles were also deployed in front of office buildings to head off another night of violence in this city on edge.
So far, police have resisted releasing police dashcam and body camera footage of the death of 43-year Keith Lamont Scott this week. His family was shown the footage Thursday and demanded that police release it to the public. The family’s lawyer said he couldn’t tell whether Scott was holding a gun.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said releasing the footage of Scott’s killing could undermine the investigation. He told reporters the video will be made public when he believes there is a “compelling reason” to do so. “I’m not going to jeopardize the investigation.”
Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts waited until Thursday’s protests were underway for more than an hour before signing documents for the citywide curfew that runs from midnight to 6 a.m. The curfew will last for days until officials determine the emergency has passed.
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. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Thursday, prosecutors charged a white officer with manslaughter for killing an unarmed black man on a city street last week.
In Charlotte, scores of rioters Wednesday night attacked reporters and others, set fires and smashed windows of hotels, office buildings and restaurants in the city’s bustling downtown section. The NASCAR Hall of Fame was among the places damaged.
Forty-four people were arrested after Wednesday’s protests, and one protester who was shot died at the hospital Thursday; city officials said police did not shoot the man and no arrests have been made in 26-year-old Justin Carr’s death.
Police have said that Scott was shot and killed Tuesday by a black officer after he disregarded loud, repeated warnings to drop his gun. Neighbours, though, have said he was holding only a book. The police chief said a gun was found next to the dead man, and there was no book.
Putney said that he has seen the video and it does not contain “absolute, definitive evidence that would confirm that a person was pointing a gun.” But he added: “When taken in the totality of all the other evidence, it supports what we said.”
Justin Bamberg, an attorney for Scott’s family, watched the video with the slain man’s relatives. He said Scott gets out of his vehicle calmly.
“While police did give him several commands, he did not aggressively approach them or raise his hands at members of law enforcement at any time. It is impossible to discern from the videos what, if anything, Mr. Scott is holding in his hands,” Bamberg said in a statement.
Scott was shot as he walked slowly backward with his hands by his side, Bamberg said.
In other developments: • A Republican congressman who represents the Charlotte area said Thursday that people are protesting in the city because they “hate white people.”
U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger, whose district includes parts of Charlotte and its suburbs, was asked by an interviewer for Britain’s BBC Newsnight what grievance the protesters have.
In the video posted online Thursday, Pittenger responded: “The grievance in their mind is — the animus, the anger — they hate white people because white people are successful and they’re not.”
He also complained that the government has spent too much on welfare programs that ultimately hold people back.
He later released a statement apologizing for what he said, and his comments were condemned by Democrats. • In Middle River, Maryland, a black man died three days after he called police to his suburban Baltimore home during an outburst of strange behaviour. The man was punched in the face and held to the ground by officers, police and relatives said.
Tawon Boyd, 21, died Wednesday after spending three days in a hospital following the confrontation with officers Sunday morning outside his home in Middle River. Baltimore County police said in a statement that he became aggressive with officers, who used force to subdue him. • In Hagerstown, Maryland, a police video showed an officer pepper-spraying a 15-year-old girl who refused to co-operate after her bicycle hit a car.
The body-camera video was released after a lawyer for the girl’s family posted a bystander’s video on Facebook, expressing outrage and accusing the officers of “aggression from the get-go.”
The mixed-race girl peppersprayed by police said she fought the officers because she was dizzy, confused and scared after her bicycle hit a moving car, briefly knocking her unconscious.
The girl and her mother spoke to reporters outside Hagerstown police headquarters while about 100 people demonstrated nearby, demanding accountability.