A third night of protests over a fatal police shooting in Charlotte gave way to quiet streets as a curfew enacted by the city’s mayor ended early Friday.
The largely peaceful Thursday night demonstrations in the city’s business district, watched over by rifle-toting members of the National Guard, called on police to release video that could resolve wildly different accounts of the shooting of a black man earlier this week.
The family of Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was shown the footage Thursday of his fatal shooting and demanded that police release it to the public.
Demonstrators chanted “release the tape” and “we want the tape” Thursday while briefly blocking an intersection near Bank of America headquarters and later climbing the steps to the door of the city government center. Later, several dozen demonstrators walked onto an interstate highway through the city, but they were pushed back by police in riot gear.
Still, the protests lacked the violence and property damage of previous nights, and the curfew encouraged a stopping point. Local officers’ ranks were augmented by Guard members carrying rifles and guarding office buildings against the threat of property damage.
Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts signed documents Thursday night to be in effect from midnight until 6 a.m. each day that the state of emergency declared by the governor continues.
After the curfew took effect, police allowed the crowd of demonstrators to thin without forcing them off the street. Police Capt. Mike Campagna told reporters that officers would not seek to arrest curfew violators as long as they were peaceful.
So far, police have resisted releasing police dashcam and body camera footage of Scott’s death. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said Thursday that 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.
“You shouldn’t expect it to be released,” Putney said. “I’m not going to jeopardize the investigation.”
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.
Protests in Charlotte turned violent Wednesday as demonstrators attacked reporters and others, set fires and smashed windows of hotels, office buildings and restaurants in the city’s bustling business district.
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 Scott was shot to death Tuesday by a black officer after he disregarded repeated warnings to drop his gun. Neighbors, 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 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 that in the video, 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.
The lawyer said at a news conference earlier in the day that Scott’s wife saw him get shot, “and that’s something she will never, ever forget.” That is the first time anyone connected with the case has said the wife witnessed the shooting. Bamberg gave no details on what the wife saw.
The police chief acknowledged that he has promised transparency in the investigation, but said, “I’m telling you right now, if you think I say we should display a victim’s worst day for consumption, that is not the transparency I’m speaking of.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Posted on F/B Clintons broke when leaving WH As they had to pay $850,000 for Bill fun. with G Flowers
When people are oppressed and killed they get on boat and leave , here they steal TV’S and live on Tax Payers. Another good reason to limit those who vote to those who pay taxes to elect responsible leaders.
The death of the man at the hands of the police needs to be investigated. At the same time, the rioters who are killing or destroying property should be held accountable for their actions. The possible misdeeds of one person doesn’t give anyone else permission to break the law.
Innocent people’s lives are being endangered by rioters. The property of people who had nothing to do with the police shooting the black man is being destroyed. How is this getting justice for anyone? I think a 24 hour a day ban on public demonstrations should be put in place until things cool down. The only thing the rioters are accomplishing is they are creating another round of victims. Many of the rioters are probably the same rabble rousers that has caused trouble in the other cities. The demonstrators who are not from Charlotte should be told to leave town or they will be arrested. This sort of violence needs to be stopped.
This whole storey sounds like a setup.
Man in car reading waiting for kid to
Get out of school. Wife running up with
Cell phone camera. Shouting dont do
It. Wheres the kid. Why is wife there.
Who called police. Whats the deal.