One shot in second night of Charlotte protests
Fatal shooting of black man triggers unrest
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Authorities in Charlotte tried to quell public anger Wednesday after a police officer shot a black man, but a prayer vigil turned into a march that ended with the shooting of a protester.
The man was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, officials said. He was not shot by police who had massed in riot gear to keep the marchers outside an upscale downtown hotel, Charlotte officials announced on Twitter.
After the shooting, protesters began throwing bottles, dirt clods and fireworks at the officers. The police fired flash grenades and then tear gas back, dispersing the crowd of several hundred. Paramedics said two other people and six police officers suffered minor injuries.
With officials refusing to release any video of the Tuesday shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott, anger built as two starkly different versions emerged: Police say Scott disregarded repeated demands to drop his gun.
His family and neighbor-
hood residents say he was holding a book, not a weapon, as he waited in his car for his son to get off the school bus — a detail that quickly went viral on social media and was seized upon by protesters here.
In the aftermath of the shooting, North Carolina’s largest city joined the list of communities across the country that have erupted amid a growing debate on racial bias in policing.
At a news conference earlier Wednesday, Charlotte police insisted that Scott had a gun and was posing an “imminent deadly threat” when officers shot him outside an apartment complex near the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said officers were searching for another man, a suspect with outstanding warrants, when they spotted Scott emerging from a vehicle and armed with a handgun, police said.
“The officers gave loud, clear verbal commands” telling Scott to drop the weapon, Putney said. “Mr. Scott exited his vehicle armed with a handgun as the officers continued to yell at him to drop it. He stepped out, posing a threat to the officers.”
Putney was adamant that Scott posed a threat, even if he didn’t point his weapon at officers, and said a gun was found next to the dead man. Neighbors, though, said Scott had his hands in the air.
Putney said police recovered a gun and found no book at the scene.
The officer who shot Scott, Brentley Vinson, 26, also is black. Sixteen Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers suffered minor injuries on Tuesday.
The police chief also said the officer who shot Scott was in plainclothes, wearing a vest with a police logo, and was accompanied by other officers in full uniform. The plainclothes officer wasn’t wearing a body camera, but the other officers were.
One expert questioned whether officers were justified in their initial interaction with Scott, even based on the police’s own version of events.
Gregory Wallace, a law professor at Campbell University in Raleigh, said the city’s statement raises questions as to why police ordered Scott to drop his gun.
In North Carolina, the open-carry of a handgun is legal. Concealed carry is also legal, so long as you have a permit.
He said the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2013 that someone carrying a handgun does not give the police the ability to stop and search them or someone with them.
“The mere possession of a handgun does not give the police probable cause or reasonable suspicion to briefly detain you for stop and frisk,” Wallace said. “The mere fact that you have a handgun isn’t enough — it’s legal in N.C.”
Whether authorities can defuse the current anger on the streets could hinge on that body-cam footage. The shooting has thrust Charlotte to the fore of a national debate about access to police body cams.
Putney said Wednesday that the department won’t release any footage until a police investigation is complete. By that time, its release may no longer be legal. A new state law effective Oct. 1 forbids police agencies from making body-camera footage public without a court order.
In the first hours after the shooting, a large crowd gathered near the university, some chanting “black lives matter” and “hands up, don’t shoot.” As the protest grew in size and anger, police appeared in riot gear and fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Some protesters began smashing the windows of police cars.
By early Wednesday, demonstrators had shut down traffic on Interstate 85. Some opened the backs of tractor-trailers, took out boxes and set them on fire in the middle of the highway, according to local news reports. A truck driver told news station WSOC that people stole cargo from her trailer.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch pleaded Wednesday for protesters to remain peaceful.
“Protest is protected by our Constitution and is a vital instrument for raising issues and creating change,” she said in Washington. “But when it turns violent, it undermines the very justice that it seeks to achieve.”