The midnight curfew came and went and still the protesters walked through the streets of uptown Charlotte. A mostly quiet, yet busy and noisy night, was marred by demonstrators entering the Interstate 277 loop before police with rubber bullets and tear gas turned them back.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and National Guardsmen and women remained on the sidelines once the curfew went into effect. How long, though, was anybody’s guess. The city’s mayor didn’t call for the curfew until 9 p.m. or later. Many protesters didn’t get the word. Or didn’t care.
For the third night in a row, hundreds of people hit the Charlotte streets to protest the shooting death of a black father of seven at the hands of a local police officer. Thursday was the calmest night.
At 12:30 a.m. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Capt. Mike Campagna said his officers would not move on the protesters as long as they remained peaceful.
The National Guard had come to town by order of the governor, and Mayor Jennifer Roberts announced that the city would be enforcing a midnight curfew.
Early in the evening, as a handful of Guardsmen looked on, a hundred people gathered at the spot outside the Omni Hotel at which a young man was shot and killed the night before. They prayed and sang and poured water on the sidewalk that had been stained with the blood of Justin Carr, 26. The water was a “healing balm,” they said, intended to consecrate the ground where Carr fell.
Corine Mack, president of the Charlotte NAACP, said Thursday night’s demonstrations were “what we want to see. We want to see protests without issues. But I am upset to see the National Guard.” Mack worried that the military presence could increase tensions and noted that the streets were relatively calm Wednesday until police in riot gear marched up.
“When cops came out in full riot gear and made a formation, things changed,” Mack said. “Black folks have the right to protest peacefully when we are dying in the streets.”
A short time later, hundreds of protesters had gathered and were marching down Trade Street chanting “Black lives matter!” The group arrived at the intersection of Trade and College streets, where things turned ugly Wednesday night, but where demonstrators Wednesday had stayed in one place for hours, this group quickly moved on.
They marched out of the heart of downtown to parade past the police station and walk up to the Mecklenburg County Jail. There they stopped and chanted, “We love you! We love you!” Lights inside the jail blinked on and off in reply.
Organizers urged the group to keep walking, saying, “A movement keeps moving.”
Police videos remain under wraps
The city remained tense Thursday, in part because the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police held fast in their refusal to release video that could prove, or disprove, their story about the death of Keith Lamont Scott. Scott was the black man whose shooting by police on Tuesday afternoon touched off the violent demonstrations, looting and vandalism that wracked the center city for two nights.
But even after a morning press conference hosted by the city’s mayor and police chief, the most pressing question was still unanswered: what is on the videotape?
The police have steadfastly claimed that Scott brandished a gun before he was shot and killed by the officer, who is also black, and that dashboard and body camera videos support that conclusion. Witnesses, however, claim that Scott was not holding a gun but a book when he was shot.
But the video may not support either claim. Scott's family viewed the tape Thursday, and their lawyer released a statement afterward.
"It is impossible to discern from the videos what, if anything, Mr. Scott is holding in his hands," attorney Justin Bomber said in a statement. "When he was shot and killed, Mr. Scott's hands were by his side and he was slowly walking backwards.
"It was incredibly difficult for members of the Scott family to view these videos, but as a matter of the greater good and transparency, the Scott family asks that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department publicly immediately release both of the videos they watched today."
Putney acknowledged that the video “does not give me absolute visual evidence that would confirm that that person is pointing a gun, but with all the other evidence, supports what we heard.”
He was referring in large part to a gun police said they found near Scott after he fell.
“I would like to think that there’s your truth, my truth and THE truth,” Putney said. “I will be very intentional in protecting the integrity of the investigation. We will release (the video) when there’s a compelling reason to and not jeopardize the investigation.”
The Rev. Claude Alexander, a community leader and local pastor, said Thursday he was conflicted about the video.
In refusing to release the video, Putney also cited a new law in North Carolina that doesn’t take effect until Oct. 1. In July, Gov. Pat McCrory signed a controversial bill that prevents law enforcement agencies from releasing video footage without a court order. (Georgia does not have such a law, although the police and prosecutors here often take advantage of the “open investigation” exemption in the state’s Open Records Law. This exemption enables them to withhold records for the public, including video, if an investigation is still open.)
The Rev. Claude Alexander, a Charlotte community leader and local pastor, said Thursday he was conflicted about the Scott video.
“To the degree that they are able to release info that is pertinent to the community to give a full and accurate account of what happened … I would hope that whatever that is comes sooner rather than later,” Alexander said. “I realize they have an investigation. So we are talking about competing interests. That is where patience and trust is needed.”
Chief Putney said that Scott posed an “imminent deadly threat” to police officers who descended on an apartment complex near the University of North Carolina-Charlotte to serve a warrant on somebody else. Witneses said Scott was sitting in his car waiting for the school bus to drop off his son when officers approached.
“He did have a weapon when he exited the vehicle,” Putney said. “Officers were giving loud, clear verbal commands. The suspect exited the vehicle with a handgun, threatening officers.”
On Thursday night, marchers downtown were chanting “release the tape!”
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