Family releases video of Charlotte shooting
The family of the AfricanAmerican man whose death has triggered days of unrest in Charlotte, North Carolina has released dramatic video of the police shooting, raising pressure on authorities to make their own footage public.
Police have refused to release body-cam and dashcam video of Tuesday’s shooting, which they say shows that Keith Lamont Scott posed a threat to officers.
His death is the latest in a string of police-involved killings of black men that have fuelled outrage across America.
North Carolina’s governor declared a state of emergency in the southern US city after it was rocked by violence-marred protests. Several hundred demonstrators were out again for a fourth night on Friday calling for the release of the videos amid a greater presence of National Guard troops, but the atmosphere was calmer than during previous days.
A curfew beginning at midnight went into effect for a second night, after protesters defied the order on Thursday.
Hundreds of demonstrators were also marching in the southern city of Atlanta in a protest calling for police reform organised by the NAACP, the black community’s main civil rights organisation.
Charlotte’s case has also touched the US presidential race, with Mayor Jennifer Roberts asking both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to delay visits, citing “very stretched resources for security”.
Clinton tweeted that police should release the footage “without delay”.
President Barack Obama called for understanding as he celebrated the opening of the Smithsonian’s African American museum in Washington this weekend.
Scott was shot and killed at a Charlotte apartment complex during an encounter with police searching for another person wanted for arrest.
Police say he had a handgun. His family says he was holding a book.
The two-minute smartphone footage filmed by Rakeyia Scott and released by her lawyers does not show the shooting itself — and does not conclusively answer the question of whether he was armed — but captures the moments surrounding it as she pleads with officers not to open fire.
It is also unclear whether police, a short distance away, could hear her speaking to them and to her husband during the altercation. “Don’t shoot him, he has no weapon!” she is heard saying.