Hillary Clinton urges public release of video in fatal Charlotte police shooting | Charlotte Observer

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is calling on the city of Charlotte to publicly release police video from Tuesday’s fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott.

In a Twitter post Friday, Clinton wrote: “Charlotte should release police video of the Keith Lamont Scott shooting without delay. We must ensure justice & work to bridge divides.”

The tweet is signed with an “H,” meaning that it comes from her personally.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s North Carolina campaign spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.

Clinton’s tweet follows an earlier release from Attorney General Roy Cooper, the Democratic candidate for governor.

“We must continue in the pursuit of the truth while also continuing the important work of bringing our communities and law enforcement together to build trust and safety for all. One step toward meeting both goals is for the videos in this case to be released to the public,” Cooper said in a statement released by his campaign. “Transparency between the community and our law enforcement breaks down barriers and brings progress.”

Gov. Pat McCrory said Friday that officials need to “respect the law and the process of the law” and called for “a thoughtful discussion on hearing all points of view.”

Robin Hayes, chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, criticized Democrats for calling for the video to be released.

“Governor McCrory has stated and shown that politics has no place in the delicate consideration of the public release of evidence. Hillary Clinton and Roy Cooper should follow his example,” he said in a statement.

The statements follow a press conference Friday in which Charlotte city officials continued to refuse to release the video. But police Chief Kerr Putney said, “It’s a matter of when.”

Putney said releasing video without the right context could inflame a situation, adding, “The video is not a panacea.”

State Bureau of Investigation agents, at the request of Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray, began an independent inquiry into the shooting of Scott.

In 2013, the Republican-led legislature separated the SBI from the crime lab, and the following year moved the statewide law enforcement agency from under Cooper’s control into the McCrory administration’s Department of Public Safety.

Craig Jarvis of the (Raleigh) News & Observer contributed.