The tapes are out, and still there are no definitive answers.
After two days of violent rioting over the police shooting of Keith Scott, protests continued throughout the weekend in Charlotte. This time, however, they remained peaceful as chants of ‘no justice, no peace’ and ‘release the tapes’ could be heard in several protests across the area.
On Saturday Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney decided to release both dashcam footage and bodycam footage of the shooting. Officers had been in the area on an unrelated call when they spotted Scott rolling marijuana – an offense they were initially willing to ignore until another officer spotted a gun in Scott’s car as well.
WARNING: video footage contains graphic content
According to the Charlotte Observer:
“In the dashboard video, a police SUV can be seen pulling into the parking lot where Scott’s white SUV is parked. An officer in a red shirt is visible pointing his weapon at Scott’s vehicle, whose tinted windows are up.
In a deadly tableau lasting about three seconds, Scott, surrounded by officers at varying distances, then opens his door, steps out, turns and walks backward, hands at his side. Four shots are heard and he falls.
In neither video is the resolution good enough to show whether Scott was holding a weapon. Nor does either show the officer firing at him.
A body cam on another officer at the scene shows Scott emerging from the SUV, then lying in the parking lot seconds later. Police handcuff him while Scott’s wife can be heard yelling at police, “He better be alive!”
Police are maintaining there was a gun recovered at the scene, and that Scott was indeed holding a gun, although Chief Putney concedes “The video does not give me absolute, definitive visual evidence that would confirm that a person is pointing a gun.”
Scott’s family and attorney, however, are going with an entirely different story. They maintain Scott never had a weapon, and the one seen at the location of the shooting was not actually a gun, but something else such as a book.
In a video release by the family and their attorney, Scott’s wife can be heard telling officers he “doesn’t have a gun” and “he won’t do anything to you.” She also pleads with Scott to obey the officers, advising him to listen, and says “don’t you do it” moments before officers opened fire.
WARNING: video footage contains graphic content
Protesters, along with Scott’s family, believe police are lying about the gun in order to cover up a bad shoot.
The shooting, which took place last Tuesday, is further highlighting the fractured state of the country.
Despite a clear lack of anything conclusive on the videos, they are being used to deepen divisions in the country.
Instead of gathering all facts possible before making conclusions, declarations, dubious claims and massive assumptions are being made in order to further an agenda.