SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
(Screengrab/CMPD)
Questions Remain as Police Release Footage of Fatal Charlotte Shooting
Release of dash cam and body cam footage follows days of protests and demands for footage to be made public
Sep 25, 2016
Following days of demonstrations, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department on Saturday released footage of the fatal shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott.
The release of dashboard camera and body camera footage came just one day after NBC released footage from Scott's wife, Rakeyia Scott, of the fatal encounter last Tuesday.
Scott's family has asserted that he was unarmed; police say he had a gun, and on Saturday also "released photos of a pistol and ankle holster recovered at the scene," CNN reports.
In the footage from Rakeyia Scott, she is heard saying, "He doesn't have a gun." Police officers can be heard saying, "Drop the gun."
Justin Bamberg, who represents the Scott family, said at news conference Saturday, "You can't clearly identify what, if anything, is in his hand."
Police have said Scott "posed an imminent deadly threat." The new footage, however, questions that, as Scott is seen walking slowly backwards with his arms at his side when the round of shots was fired.
Warning: the footage contains graphic content some readers may find disturbing:
"It does not make sense to us how this incident led to loss of life," said Ray Dotch, Scott's brother-in-law, at the news conference.
The New York Times reports Charlotte Police Chief Chief Kerr Putney "also said that more footage would be released upon completion of an independent inquiry being conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation 'and there has been a definitive decision on the part of the prosecutor.'"
According to the ACLU, Scott was "the 164th Black man killed by U.S. police this year. "
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Following days of demonstrations, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department on Saturday released footage of the fatal shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott.
The release of dashboard camera and body camera footage came just one day after NBC released footage from Scott's wife, Rakeyia Scott, of the fatal encounter last Tuesday.
Scott's family has asserted that he was unarmed; police say he had a gun, and on Saturday also "released photos of a pistol and ankle holster recovered at the scene," CNN reports.
In the footage from Rakeyia Scott, she is heard saying, "He doesn't have a gun." Police officers can be heard saying, "Drop the gun."
Justin Bamberg, who represents the Scott family, said at news conference Saturday, "You can't clearly identify what, if anything, is in his hand."
Police have said Scott "posed an imminent deadly threat." The new footage, however, questions that, as Scott is seen walking slowly backwards with his arms at his side when the round of shots was fired.
Warning: the footage contains graphic content some readers may find disturbing:
"It does not make sense to us how this incident led to loss of life," said Ray Dotch, Scott's brother-in-law, at the news conference.
The New York Times reports Charlotte Police Chief Chief Kerr Putney "also said that more footage would be released upon completion of an independent inquiry being conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation 'and there has been a definitive decision on the part of the prosecutor.'"
According to the ACLU, Scott was "the 164th Black man killed by U.S. police this year. "
Following days of demonstrations, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department on Saturday released footage of the fatal shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott.
The release of dashboard camera and body camera footage came just one day after NBC released footage from Scott's wife, Rakeyia Scott, of the fatal encounter last Tuesday.
Scott's family has asserted that he was unarmed; police say he had a gun, and on Saturday also "released photos of a pistol and ankle holster recovered at the scene," CNN reports.
In the footage from Rakeyia Scott, she is heard saying, "He doesn't have a gun." Police officers can be heard saying, "Drop the gun."
Justin Bamberg, who represents the Scott family, said at news conference Saturday, "You can't clearly identify what, if anything, is in his hand."
Police have said Scott "posed an imminent deadly threat." The new footage, however, questions that, as Scott is seen walking slowly backwards with his arms at his side when the round of shots was fired.
Warning: the footage contains graphic content some readers may find disturbing:
"It does not make sense to us how this incident led to loss of life," said Ray Dotch, Scott's brother-in-law, at the news conference.
The New York Times reports Charlotte Police Chief Chief Kerr Putney "also said that more footage would be released upon completion of an independent inquiry being conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation 'and there has been a definitive decision on the part of the prosecutor.'"
According to the ACLU, Scott was "the 164th Black man killed by U.S. police this year. "
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.