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 Photo/Nicholas Kamm)
Charlotte
(AFP) - The southern US city of Charlotte, North Carolina braced for a
possible new flare-up of violence on Wednesday ignited by the fatal
police shooting of a black man.
"We
are calling for peace, we are calling for calm, we are calling for
dialogue," Mayor Jennifer Roberts said. "We all see this as a tragedy."
The
city bolstered its police presence and authorities shut down Epicenter,
an area of bars and restaurants. A downtown Bank of America branch sent
employees home early to avoid potential unrest.
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.
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.
More protests were expected Wednesday night.
Presidential
candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were quick to weigh in on
the violence in Charlotte. It came on the heels of another fatal police
shooting of a black man on Friday in Tulsa, with the death of Terence
Crutcher captured on video.
"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
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.
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 hand gun," Putney said. "I can also
tell you we did not find a book that has been made reference to."
- Protests turn violent -
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 the African American community 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.
(Michael Mathes•September 21, 2016)
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