A black police officer shot an armed black man at an apartment complex in Charlotte, North Carolina, Fox News reported Tuesday, sparking angry protests that devolved into a violent riot late last night. Around twelve police officers were injured, a local Walmart was looted, and at least one police car was vandalized during clashes that continued until well after midnight, despite the use of tear gas by riot police.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department tweeted that demonstrators were destroying marked police vehicles and that approximately 12 officers had been injured, including one who was hit in the face with a rock. Television coverage showed police firing tear gas to break up the crowd. The protests came just hours after another demonstration in Tulsa, Oklahoma, over the shooting there of an unarmed black man by police.
Charlotte police went to the complex about 4 p.m. looking for a suspect with an outstanding warrant when they saw the man — not the suspect they were looking for — inside a car, department spokesman Keith Trietley said in a statement.
Officers saw the man get out of the car with a gun and then get back in, Trietley said. When officers approached, the man exited the car with the gun again. At that point, officers deemed the man a threat and at least one fired a weapon, he said.
The man, identified as 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott, was taken to Carolinas Medical Center and pronounced dead.
Officer Brentley Vinson, who shot Scott, has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in such cases. Vinson has been with the department for two years.
Detectives recovered a firearm at the scene and were interviewing witnesses, Trietley said.
Some people are telling an altogether different story, however, based on a Facebook post shared by (allegedly) the victim’s daughter.
A woman who said she is Scott’s daughter claimed on a live-streamed video on Facebook that Scott was unarmed when he was shot. The video went viral, with more than 521,000 views by 9:30 p.m.
In the video, the woman said her father was sitting in his car reading a book and waiting for the school bus to drop off his son. She claimed that her father was Tasered and then shot four times, and that he was disabled.
The Daily Caller reports that people began to gather at the scene after the shooting and soon a crowd of hundreds began clashing with riot police. “F*ck the police!” rioters chanted.
“We out like the Taliban!” one rioter could be heard crying on a Facebook Live broadcast of the protests, shortly after tear gas canisters were fired into the crowd. After 11 p.m., the situation grew more severe, with several people successfully trashing a police SUV.
“We ain’t playin’ no motherf*ckin’ games, n*gga!” another demonstrator yelled on the Facebook broadcast, trying to fire up other protesters.
“This ain’t no one-day action!” another cried. “This is the first time people standing up!”
That video can be seen here.
The obligatory looting rampage:
BREAKING | Dozens of protesters are breaking into the Walmart on North Tryon Street. @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/2b2lmwqC2g
— Mark Barber (@_MarkBarber_) September 21, 2016
Charlotte police are now guarding the Walmart. Protesters smashed through several doors. @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/WywmMrwc42
— Mark Barber (@_MarkBarber_) September 21, 2016
Here’s raw footage of rioters destroying a police vehicle. (Language warning.)
https://youtu.be/fF5MBMfqOQU
Around 1 a.m. Wednesday, the Charlotte Observer reports, “police were seen handing bottles of water to the several dozen people who were still protesting.”
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