Students take part in a lie-in at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, North Carolina, on September 21, 2016 in protest against police brutality following the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott nearby the previous day © AFP / Nicholas Kamm
Charlotte, United States, Sep 21 – Violence flared in the southern US city of Charlotte, North Carolina, in a second night of unrest ignited by the fatal police shooting of a black man.
Several hundred people taunted riot police in front of a hotel in the city center, during which a man fell to the ground. Witnesses said police brought him into the hotel after he fell, leaving blood on the sidewalk.
Some protesters banged on glass windows, others threw objects at police and stood on cars as police appeared to fire tear gas, prompting demonstrators to run.
“We are calling for peace, we are calling for calm, we are calling for dialogue,” Mayor Jennifer Roberts said earlier in the day. “We all see this as a tragedy.”
Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was shot dead in an apartment complex parking lot on Tuesday after an encounter with officers searching for a suspect wanted for arrest.
Three youths raise their fists near the site where Keith Lamont Scott was shot by police after a press conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, on September 21, 2016 © AFP / Nicholas Kamm
The authorities said 16 officers and several demonstrators were injured in clashes overnight Tuesday following Scott’s death, the latest in a string of police-involved killings of black men that have fueled outrage across the United States.
Earlier on Wednesday, presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton weighed in on the violence in Charlotte, which came on the heels of another fatal police shooting of a black man, Terence Crutcher, on Friday in Tulsa.
“Keith Lamont Scott. Terence Crutcher. Too many others. This has got to end. -H,” tweeted Democrat Clinton, signing the post herself.
After calling to “make America safe again” in a tweet, Trump suggested later Wednesday that the Tulsa officer who shot Crutcher had “choked.”
“I don’t know what she was thinking,” the Republican said, speaking at an African-American church in Cleveland, Ohio.
– Divergent accounts –
The fatal police shooting of a black man in Charlotte caused dozens of officers and several demonstrators to be injured in the violence on September 20, 2016 © Charlotte Magazine/AFP / Adam Rhew
The Charlotte shooting took place at 4:00 pm (2000 GMT) Tuesday as officers searching for a suspect arrived in the parking lot of an apartment complex.
They spotted a man with a handgun — later identified as Scott — exit and then reenter a vehicle, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police chief Kerr Putney told journalists.
Officers approached the man and loudly commanded him to get out and drop the weapon, at which point Scott exited the vehicle armed, according to police.
“He stepped out, posing a threat to the officers, and officer Brentley Vinson subsequently fired his weapon, striking the subject,” the police chief said.
Students gather at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, North Carolina, for a protest against police brutality following the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott © AFP / Nicholas Kamm
However, Putney added that he did not know whether Scott “definitively pointed the weapon specifically toward an officer.”
Carrying a firearm is legal under local “open carry” gun laws.
Scott’s relatives told local media that he was waiting for his young son at school bus stop when police arrived. He was not carrying a gun but a book when he was shot dead, they said — an account police disputed.
“I can tell you a weapon was seized. A handgun,” Putney said. “I can also tell you we did not find a book that has been made reference to.”
– Protests turn violent –
Keith Lamont Scott’s death is the latest in a series of fatal police shootings — from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to St. Paul, Minnesota — that have left the African American community demanding law enforcement reforms and greater accountability © Charlotte Magazine/AFP/File / Adam Rhew
Anger was simmering in Charlotte, especially over the police chief’s assertion that Scott had been armed.
“It’s a lie,” said Taheshia Williams, whose daughter attends school with the victim’s son. “They took the book and replaced it with a gun.”
On Wednesday afternoon, 100 students, mostly African-American, participated in a “lay-in” protesting police brutality, singing gospel songs.
“I do this for hope,” one protester called out. “I do this because I’m tired of being silent,” another said.
One man held a sign reading “Legalize being black.”
Protests had swelled Tuesday evening as news of the shooting spread, with demonstrators carrying signs that read “Black Lives Matter” and chanting “No justice, no peace!”
Putney said the situation turned violent, with “agitators” damaging police vehicles and throwing rocks at officers.
Riot control police were deployed and used tear gas to disperse the crowd, Putney said.
A group of protesters nevertheless marched to a major highway early Wednesday, shutting down traffic in both directions. They broke into the back of truck and set goods on fire, according to police.
– Series of shootings –
A string of fatal police shootings — from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to St. Paul, Minnesota — has left many Americans demanding law enforcement reforms and greater accountability.
In the southern state of Oklahoma, Tulsa police chief Chuck Jordan called video footage of Crutcher’s deadly shooting on Friday disturbing and “very difficult to watch.”
The 40-year-old is seen with his hands up, appearing to comply with police officers before he is shot once by officer Betty Shelby and falls to the ground. Another officer fires his stun gun.
The US Department of Justice said Monday it would conduct a federal civil rights probe into the Tulsa shooting, parallel to an investigation being carried out by local authorities.
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