Elected officials on Charlotte police video: ‘Deeply disturbed,’ one says. Another gives CMPD ‘high marks.’ 

Despite video footage revealing a police plan to “bottle neck” protesters with tear gas on an uptown Charlotte street on June 2, two elected officials said Thursday they believe officers made tactical missteps but did not intentionally corral the nearly 200 people who were trapped.

”It was the implementation that went awry — they acknowledged mistakes that were made,” Charlotte City Council member Malcolm Graham said in an interview. “Protesting is messy at best. CMPD is not perfect. The community has acknowledged that, as well.”

As the Observer reported Wednesday, newly-released video shows an unidentified Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer telling his colleagues that protesters were “all about to get gassed” as they marched up Fourth Street. The officer was heard saying police would “hammer their ass” and he detailed how other officers were nearby, waiting for protesters.

U.S. Rep Alma Adams said she was “deeply disturbed” watching the footage.

“It is clear that previous reports did not tell the full story of this intentional assault on protesters,” Adams said on Twitter. “This is another example of why municipal police shouldn’t have chemical agents.”

The police department has maintained that its officers did not intentionally trap protesters who were caught between two walls of tear gas clouds. One supervisor, according to CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings, has been disciplined for making “insensitive” comments that night.

The Observer made several attempts Wednesday and Thursday to reach Mayor Vi Lyles. A city spokesperson both days said the mayor was not available. She’s previously criticized the way protests were handled that night.

A majority of City Council did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Late Thursday, the mayor tweeted: “I’ve had the opportunity to watch some of the released CMPD videos and have been briefed on the rest. Chief Jennings and I have engaged in productive discussions about how we can learn and improve from this video footage. That process has already started, with policy adjustments on dispersal orders and revisions to the body-worn camera policy. Our priority is to cultivate an environment of social responsibility and growth within our police department and I believe we are doing that.”

CMPD policies, including for chemical agents and dispersal orders, were already revised this summer to partially mend the controversial aspects from that night.

The widely condemned maneuver — including by Lyles as early as June 3 — prompted several investigations, as well as an ongoing, sweeping City Council review of CMPD’s budget and policies. A lawsuit is also pending.

A portion of the hours of body-worn camera and surveillance footage released on Wednesday showed officers intentionally cornered nearly 200 protesters in the heart of uptown, after different patrol squads shepherded them away from an interstate entrance and other roadways as the crowd grew confrontational.

Council member Dimple Ajmera said she would not defend CPMD’s actions.

”We have miles to go when it comes to policing reform and the restoration of public trust of the police in all our communities,” Ajmera said in a statement.

Council member Braxton Winston, who was pepper sprayed Monday during a separate protest, decried the June 2 footage on Twitter.

”I wonder if my colleagues will join me in abolishing this or nah?” Winston tweeted Wednesday afternoon. “(Charlotte government) is supposed to provide municipal services. Who does this serve?”

It is unclear if the officer heard on the recording is the sergeant who Jennings said was suspended for two weeks without pay. That sergeant, Jennings said, was also removed from a training leadership capacity, removed from the department’s specialized crowd control unit and barred for the next two years from promotion.

“I think Chief Jennings’ willingness to spot an issue or problem — to reprimand an officer when needed — demonstrates he is willing to be a part of the solution,” Council member Larken Egleston told the Observer Wednesday, prior to the video release.

Others on City Council also expressed support for CMPD as the department continues to face mounting backlash from Charlotte residents.

No additional suspensions or disciplinary actions seem necessary, based on the footage, some City Council members said Thursday — though such decisions should be left to Jennings.

Council member Ed Driggs said it’s important to remember that CMPD officers were subjected to “invective and abuse” throughout lengthy shifts. June 2 was the fifth night of protests in the city spurred by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

“On the whole, the department deserves high marks for dealing with a dangerous situation,” Driggs said. “If they get tired and their temper gets frayed, I’m inclined to make some allowance for that. That doesn’t mean you let bad deeds go unpunished.”

As Driggs sees it, the latest divulged chain of events were consistent with prior council briefings, when only footage from alternative newspaper Queen City Nerve was publicly available of the Fourth Street incident.

The two separate CMPD units, Driggs said, had inadvertently “created the sensation of being in a kettle.” That was a result of one unit deploying tear gas too soon, with the effect worsened by a shift in the direction wind was blowing, he said.

”If they really wanted to kettle people it would have been different,” Driggs said. “The officers were not lined up in such a way that there was no way to leave. We should be conscious of the difference between an intentional kettle and the things that happened.”

A state review of the incident found marchers had two escape routes, though they were shrouded in smoke. In another new clip, an officer assigned to a bike unit can be heard asking if people frantically running have an “avenue of escape.” Another officer is heard replying: “They do.”

Graham said he wouldn’t “second-guess” the State Bureau of Investigation report — or the full scope of information the agency had at its disposal. And the new video, he said, shouldn’t prevent City Council from focusing its police oversight elsewhere.

“I don’t want us to get pigeon-holed in trying to over-correct an issue where there are already so many other law enforcement issues the Council should deal with,” Graham said. “Obviously this is important.”