State of emergency in Charlotte
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina—Violent protesters rampaged through parts of downtown Charlotte as anger continued to build over the deadly police shooting of a black man and the wildly different stories about what happened from authorities and the victim’s family and neighbors.
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency on Wednesday night in the state’s largest city and called in the National Guard after Charlotte’s police chief said he needed the help.
A peaceful prayer vigil turned into an angry march and then a night of violence after a man was shot and critically wounded as protesters charged police in riot gear trying to protect an upscale hotel in Charlotte’s typically vibrant downtown.
Police did not shoot the man, city officials said.
Surprise unrest
A video recorded right after the shooting shows someone lying in a pool of blood as people scream and a voice yells for someone to call for help. People are then told to back up from the scene.
The unrest took many by surprise in Charlotte, the banking capital of the South with a population of 830,000 people, about 35 percent of them black.
The city managed to pull through a racially charged shooting three years ago without the unrest that erupted in recent years in places such as Baltimore, Milwaukee and Ferguson.
Police charged Randall Kerrick with voluntary manslaughter within days after the 2013 shooting, but the jury at his trial couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict.
On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters who were shouting “black lives matter” and “hands up, don’t shoot” left after police fired flash grenades and tear gas after the shooting.
But several groups of a dozen or more protesters stayed behind, attacking people, including reporters, shat- tering windows to hotels, office buildings and restaurants and setting small fires.
‘My heart bleeds’
At one point, television news helicopters showed protesters on the loop highway around downtown, trying to stop cars for several minutes before police arrived.
“My heart bleeds for what our great city is going through,” McCrory said on WBTV. He was mayor of Charlotte for 14 years before be- coming governor.
Authorities said three people and four police officers were injured, but those figures had not been updated early Thursday morning. Videos and pictures on Twitter showed reporters and other people being attacked.