Charlotte police protest: This was our city Wednesday night
What’s been happening since Tuesday night’s protest in north Charlotte over the shooting of a black man named Keith Lamont Scott by police officer Brentley Vinson, who is also black:
– Sixteen CMPD officers suffered minor injuries that night. (Recap here.)
– A Wednesday news conference took place, during which Mayor Jennifer Roberts offered the city’s condolences to Scott’s family and concern for the injured officers. CMPD Chief Kerr Putney said no book was found at the scene of the crime, even though a woman who said she was Scott’s daughter said he was reading a book in his car while waiting for the school bus to drop off his son. A gun was found near Scott — and officers said he had been holding a gun. The investigation continues.
– Also Wednesday: Roberts said she had spoken to the White House, Gov. Pat McCrory and other community leaders. “We are a collaborative community. We rise and fall together,” she said.
– At least one person was shot (civilian-on-civilian, according to reports) during Wednesday night’s protest uptown, which started peacefully in Marshall Park and moved to the EpiCentre. Businesses in the EpiCentre closed early in anticipation of the protests and police blocked off streets and deployed tear gas as the situation grew chaotic outside the Omni, where several hundred protesters gathered. At least four CMPD officers and two members of the media were injured.
– Late Wednesday, Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency for the city as the protest turned into riots. People vandalized several sites uptown, including the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
– Bank of America employees were told to not report to their uptown offices today due to “ongoing civil unrest.”
Police in riot gear blocking off from 2 places on College. Insane that this is 2016 #KeithLamontScott pic.twitter.com/Qu9xDcns9B
— Katie Peralta (@katieperalta) September 22, 2016
.@logancyrus got this picture of a guy with a gun near Trade & Tryon earlier this evening. https://t.co/jkv6biBFT6… #CharlotteProtest pic.twitter.com/gPaCphUAf8
— Brad Panovich (@wxbrad) September 22, 2016
#WCCB witnessed protesters try to throw still photographer into fire in Uptown #Charlotte. https://t.co/T6i8AH5iGu #CharlotteProtest #news pic.twitter.com/t26WgIlwOh
— WCCB, Charlotte's CW (@WCCBCharlotte) September 22, 2016
Photos: Brian Blanco/Getty Images; Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer; Ronnie Glassberg/Charlotte Observer
This story was originally published September 21, 2016 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Charlotte police protest: This was our city Wednesday night."