State of Emergency Declared in Charlotte, US, Following Mass Protests
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The governor of the US state of North Carolina declared a state of emergency after one person was shot Wednesday night and four officers were injured as a second round of protests gripped the city of Charlotte in the wake of a police-involved shooting of a black man.
The City of Charlotte initially tweeted the person had died, but later corrected that the person was on life support, USA Today reported.
The Wednesday night shooting was "civilian on civilian" and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department did not fire the shot, the City of Charlotte said via Twitter.
Four officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the protests Wednesday night, police said on Twitter.
The latest violence prompted Gov. Pat McCrory to declare a state of emergency and begin the process toward deploying the National Guard and the state Highway Patrol to assist local police, the governor said via Twitter. The violence that erupted during the demonstrations would not be tolerated, McCrory said during a late Wednesday interview on CNN.
"I understand concerns and I understand frustration and anger but I will never respect violence," McCrory said. "Violence is unacceptable."
The demonstrations also prompted the mayor to issue a call for peace.
"We are urging people to stay home, to stay off the streets," Mayor Jennifer Robertstold CNN. "Violence is not the answer."
The state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also condemned the violent protests.
"We support those who exercise the right to peacefully protest, and encourage the First Amendment right to call for redress of wrongs," the organization said in a statement. "We understand efforts that undermine the legitimate calls for justice with unjust, random or purposeless acts of violence."
Charlotte's bus and light rail services halted shortly after midnight, the Charlote Area Transit System said on Twitter.
The violence came one day after police shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott, 43, who police said was armed and ignored commands to drop his weapon. However, Scott's family said the father of seven had a book in his hand. Word of the death stirred up anger in Charlotte and across the country.
In regards to the Wednesday night shooting, police responded to a call at about 8:30 p.m. ET Wednesday night and discovered a person with an apparent gunshot wound, police spokeswoman Cindy Wallace said in an email. The person was transported to Carolinas Medical Center, Wallace said.
As these details emerged, police in riot gear crowded downtown Charlotte as protesters shouted "hands up, don't shoot," banged against a police van and broke a window of the City Smoke barbecue restaurant and bar. Police set off smoke bombs, which are sometimes used to disperse crowds.
Sixteen police officers were wounded in the violence that erupted Tuesday night in this North Carolina hub after word of the shooting spread across the country.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney, at a news conference Wednesday, rejected claims Scott was holding a book, not a gun, and said the gun had been recovered by detectives. No book was found, Putney said.
“It’s time to change the narrative, because I can tell you from the facts that the story’s a little bit different as to how it’s been portrayed so far, especially through social media,” Putney added.
As the city tried to cope with the sudden outbreak of anger and violence, students gathered Wednesday afternoon on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte as part of a silent protest. The campus is about a 20-minute walk from Scott's home.
About 200 students gathered at the student union with an already planned administration meeting scheduled, said Justice White of the school's Black Student Union.
“We want to focus making others aware of police brutality,” she said. “This happened in our front yard and it’s important that we fight these stereotypes. People think we don’t care as students, that we are off in our own world, and black people are made out to be these thugs, which just isn’t true.”
Student protester Katrina Williams is a young African-American woman and big sister to four boys 8-years-old and up.
“I fear from my brothers who are younger than me, and the things I’ve gone through, I don’t want them to go through,” she said.
In addition to the Marshall Park gathering, special church services were also called at a half dozen places of worship.
The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce expressed its condolences to the Scott family, as well as to those injured in the protests, while calling on business owners to be prepared for any new violence. It said businesses should "keep everything as normal as possible," but also take care to remove or chain down all tables, chairs, signs or planters.
