Latest US race protests leave 9 injured, 44 arrested

  • 23/09/2016
Protesters confront riot police amid tear gas in Charlotte, North Carolina (Reuters)
Protesters confront riot police amid tear gas in Charlotte, North Carolina (Reuters)

Police in Charlotte, North Carolina have no plans to release a video showing the fatal shooting of a black man by officers that has sparked two nights of violent protests.

The video will only be shown to the family of Keith Scott, 43, who was shot dead by a black police officer in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Tuesday afternoon, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said on Thursday (local time).

At least nine people have been injured and 44 arrested during a second night of violent protests in Charlotte following the killing of Mr Scott.

One man remained in critical condition after being shot late on Wednesday (local time), said Putney.

Police used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades to disperse demonstrators who looted stores and threw rocks, bottles and fireworks.

Officials initially said the Wednesday victim was shot by a civilian, but a day later Putney acknowledged some claims he was shot by a law enforcement officer.

"We're here to seek the truth, so we're investigating that to find the truth, the absolute truth as best as the evidence can show us," Putney said.

Four police officers suffered non-life threatening injuries, city officials said.

Many of the protesters dispute the official account of Scott's death.

Police contend he was carrying a gun when he approached officers and ignored repeated orders to drop it.

His family and a witness say he was holding a book, not a firearm, when he was killed.

"I'm not going to release the video right now," Putney said.

He said the video supports the police account of what happened, but does not definitively show Scott pointing a gun at officers.

Charlotte's reluctance to release the video stands in contrast to Oklahoma, where officials on Monday (local time) released footage of the fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher by police after his vehicle broke down on a highway. That shooting is now the subject of a US Department of Justice probe.

The American Civil Liberties Union has called on the police in Charlotte to release camera footage of the incident.

Authorities have said the officer who shot Mr Scott, Brentley Vinson, was in plainclothes and not wearing a body camera. But according to officials, video was recorded by other officers and by cameras mounted on patrol cars.

Todd Walther, the Charlotte Fraternal Order of Police official, said the plain clothes officers were wearing vests marked "police" and that he saw them do nothing wrong.

Releasing the video would satisfy some people, but not everyone, he added.

The latest trouble erupted after a peaceful rally earlier in the evening by protesters who reject the official account of how Keith Scott, 43, was gunned down by a black police officer in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Tuesday afternoon (local time).

The killing was the latest in a long series of controversial fatal police shootings of black men across the United States, sparking more than two years of protests asserting racial bias and excessive force by police and giving rise to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Authorities say Mr Scott was wielding a handgun and was shot after refusing commands to drop it. His family and a witness say he was holding a book, not a firearm, when he was killed.

A spokesman for the Charlotte Fraternal Order of Police says CNN he had seen video from the scene showing Scott holding a gun.

"It is important that we have a full and transparent investigation of the original incident," Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts told a press conference.

The pleas appeared to go largely unheeded.

Overnight, protesters smashed windows and glass doors at a downtown Hyatt hotel and punched two employees, the hotel's manager told Reuters. The slogan "Black Lives Matter" was spray-painted on windows.

Looters were seen smashing windows and grabbing items from a convenience store as well as a shop that sells athletic wear for the NBA's Charlotte Hornets.

"We had a lot of looting at a lot of businesses," Putney said, adding that state police and National Guard troops would help to secure the area on Thursday (local time).

The people arrested faced such charges as assault, breaking and entering and failure to disperse, he said.

It was the second night of unrest in North Carolina's largest city, one of the biggest US financial centres.

Sixteen police officers and several protesters had been injured on Tuesday night and in the early hours of Wednesday.

Reuters