CMPD chief refuses to tell city who ordered chemical agents used on peaceful protesters

Some Charlotte City Council members want to discipline the police commander who authorized the use of chemical agents against a crowd of largely peaceful protesters, but CMPD Chief Kerr Putney would not tell them the person’s name, officials said Friday.

Mayor Vi Lyles and other elected officials have excoriated the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department since Tuesday when a video surfaced online that shows officers deploying chemical agents on demonstrators who were uptown protesting the death of George Floyd.

Charlotte City Council members, Putney and other city leaders met behind closed doors Wednesday to discuss what happened and how the city should respond. Multiple council members said in the meeting that they wanted the police commander who ordered the release of the chemical agents placed on administrative leave, according to two officials who were in the meeting.

But when they asked Putney who was responsible for the decision, he would not divulge the person’s identity, said the officials, who requested anonymity because the discussions in the meeting were supposed to be kept private.

City Council member Braxton Winston told Putney that if he didn’t reveal the commander’s name, then city leaders should hold Putney accountable for what happened, they said.

Reached by phone Friday, Winston did not dispute the two officials’ account.

He said someone should be fired from their job.

“No one is being held accountable,” Winston said. “When the rubber hits the road, there is no accountability.”

Questionable tactics

A video recorded by Queen City Nerve, an alternative newspaper, appears to show a mass of demonstrators walking near 4th and College streets in uptown when police released chemical agents on the crowd. Protesters turned to go in the other direction, but officers on that side blocked their path, also using chemical agents.

Samuel Walker, a nationally-known criminal justice professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, criticized the police practice of containing protesters in a limited area.

“If you want the crowd to disperse, you have to give them an exit route,” Walker said. “If you’ve confined them to an area, they have no place to go. And then you tear gas them? That’s just wrong.”

Cory Burkarth, a city spokesperson, deferred questions on the investigation to the police. CMPD refused to make Putney available for interviews Friday and did not answer written questions submitted by the Observer. The department said it is reviewing whether proper policy was followed.

Putney said in a news conference Wednesday he looked forward to “walking people through the sequence of events that happened” Tuesday, but that he needed to wait until the review and investigation was complete.

Requests to interview city attorney Patrick Baker were declined. Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones has said the State Bureau of Investigation will conduct a review of the incident.

City Council divided

Since the video surfaced, city council members have been split over how to respond.

City Councilman Matt Newton, a Democrat, said he believes whoever ordered the use of chemical agents should be placed on administrative leave.

“What we saw on that video is unacceptable,” Newton said. “It is really important we do it as soon as possible. If we don’t take action now there is a greater likelihood of something like this happening again.”

But Republican City Council member Tariq Bokhari is livid that officials have not stood behind the department.

In the closed-door session, Putney explained that video footage from “different angles tells a different story,” according to Bokhari.

“If anyone needs to be fired, it is the mayor and the city council,” Bokhari said. “They have thrown our officers under the bus to pander and appease people who want to hurt CMPD. They want to use them as a scapegoat.”

Mayor Lyles did not respond to an interview request made through her spokesperson.

Council member Ed Driggs said he would need more information to determine if anyone should be disciplined.

Like other cities around the country, Charlotte has been roiled by protests since Floyd died while in police custody in Minneapolis. Demonstrators are demanding changes to stop the deaths of African Americans at the hands of police.

Protests in Charlotte and elsewhere have been mostly peaceful, but at times have descended into clashes between officers and demonstrators.

“We need to be careful criticizing (police),” Driggs said. “Things are happening in real time. You cannot rehearse for every scenario.”

Who’s accountable?

Community activists have demanded more information from the city about who ordered the use of chemical agents on mostly peaceful protesters.

Some have called for CMPD to suspend the use of tear gas and other chemical agents. The substances can burn eyes and skin, cause coughing and other adverse physical reactions. Demonstrators in Charlotte have regularly been seen pouring milk or water in their eyes to stop the burning.

Putney should be fired for what happened, said Corine Mack, president of the Charlotte chapter of the NAACP.

“When did our city become militarized?” Mack said. “It is time for Putney to go. Who gave the order? If he cannot say, then he needs to go.”

In the closed-door meeting, one official said that some city council members turned to Jones, the city manager, to find out who was responsible for the episode when Putney did not divulge the commander’s name.

Jones told council members it would be difficult to pin blame on one individual because a number of officers play a role in making that kind of decision, the official said.

Winston said the city council should share some blame. He said he has proposed creating a committee that would include city council members to provide more oversight of the department.

“We need comprehensive policy review and reform,” Winston said. “We have not had the political will to make those mandates.”

This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 4:16 PM.