Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police - Release Video of Scott's Killing Now!
- by: Susan V
- recipient: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney
Peaceful and violent protests broke out in the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina last week after a 43-year-old father of seven, Keith Lamont Scott, a black man, was shot and killed by police. Although there is a dispute over whether Scott had a book or a gun in his hand, so far police have failed to release the film that might settle this dispute.
According to USA Today, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney stated in a press conference that the facts about the killing are different than how media has portrayed them. He said officers were searching at an apartment complex for a “suspect with an outstanding warrant,” when they noticed Scott sitting in a car at the complex. Then, claims Putney, Scott got out of his car holding a gun and was warned by officers to drop it before he was killed.
However Putney didn’t say Scott either pointed the gun at the officers or threatened them in any way; nor did he explain why the officer who shot Scott, Brently Vinson, was not wearing a body camera. Furthermore, a video just released by Scott's family doesn't show Scott pointing a gun at anyone.
Putney did say that the department was reviewing the dashcam footage. So why doesn’t Putney release that footage to prove his version of the story is correct? The ACLU says he should at once and also explain why Vinson wasn’t wearing a body camera.
The public has a right to know the truth. Join the ACLU in demanding that Putney release the video footage of Scott’s killing at once!
To Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney:
The public has a right to see the police dashcam video footage regarding the fatal shooting of Keith Scott. The cell phone footage just released by Scott's wife, and also her statements about her husband simply waiting in the car for his son's return from school and reading a book leave many unanswered questions. This information also casts doubt on the certainty with which you assured the public that the police had faced imminent danger from Scott that justified the shooting.
The ACLU and the family, which reports say has privately viewed the dashcam video, are both demanding its release to the public, and we, the undersigned, join them in this request.
Thanks for your time.
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Update #17 years ago
Reports say Police succumbed to public pressure and released partial video footage yesterday. However there's nothing so far showing that Scott presented any imminent danger to police, and the public is still demanding to see ALL the footage involved in this police shooting. Please keep the pressure on and insist that all video footage of this tragic killing be released to the public.
