Charlotte Police: Video Doesn't Show 'Definitive Evidence' Keith Scott Pointed Gun At Police

[alp227]

Source: WUNC, North Carolina Public Radio

Charlotte's police chief says video footage of the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott does not show 'definitive evidence' that Scott pointed a gun at officers before he was fatally shot.

Officials say Scott was shot and killed by Charlotte police on Tuesday while they were searching for another man. There are conflicting reports about whether Scott pointed a gun at the responding officers, which has prompted calls for police to release dash-cam and body-cam videos. Scott's family disputes the claim that he pointed a gun at officials.

Police said the plainsclothes officer who shot 43-year-old Scott, identified as Brently Vinson, has been placed on leave, which is standard procedure in such cases. Three uniformed officers at the shooting scene had body cameras; Vinson did not, police said.

In a press conference, Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney said he plans to show the video to Scott's family at their request, but Putney said he will not immediately release it to the public despite calls for greater transparency.

Read more: http://wunc.org/post/charlotte-police-video-doesnt-show-definitive-evidence-keith-scott-pointed-gun-police

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Charlotte Observer also reports: NC SBI investigates fatal police shooting; National Guard, Highway Patrol in Charlotte after violent protests continue

[EV_Ares]

1. Says they are not going to make the video public.

[cstanleytech]

4. Close, they said it wouldnt immediately be released which is a far cry saying it will not be

able to be viewed by the public if they want to watch it.

[Stryder]

20. Conflicting stories.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/keith-lamont-scott-video_us_57e3f48ce4b0e28b2b529219?sscw6s86g7b0muz0k9&

[cstanleytech]

21. Yes but that wasnt the link under discussion and

based upon the OP link they simply said it just wouldnt be immediately released not never released and assuming freedom of information laws apply here I doubt they can keep the video hidden forever even if they wanted to.

[EV_Ares]

35. They are not going to release it to the public period.

"Chief Putney, who has resisted demands from the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina and others to release all video of the shooting recorded by other officers and by cameras mounted on patrol cars, said that his department only releases footage “when we think it is in the public’s interest.” In this case, he told reporters at a news conference, “you shouldn’t expect it to be released.”

"Asked by one incredulous reporter how withholding the visual evidence could be squared with the city’s promise of full transparency, Putney said, “I never said ‘full transparency.’ I said ‘transparency,’ and transparency’s in the eye of the beholder.”

https://theintercept.com/2016/09/22/charlotte-police-chief-refuses-to-release-dashcam-video-of-officer-killing-keith-scott/

[cstanleytech]

36. See post #21 as I already addressed something similar.

[EV_Ares]

39. Replying to your posts where you seem to think he is going to have to release the video & in

particular to your post 4 which I was replying to.

[Feeling the Bern]

32. Do I smell a Nixon and 18 minutes of missing tape moment coming?

[Laurian]

2. It will be interesting to hear what the family has

to say after viewing the video. Maybe their reaction will prompt the police to release it.

[B2G]

24. They saw it this afternoon

The city is anxiously waiting to see what they say.

[tonyt53]

3. Scott's family was adamant that he had no gun at all and was reading a book.

The way this article reads, there is no mention of that claim. I'm not saying that the cops were right or wrong, but some evidence has to be considered. That photo by someone that witnessed him being shot, shows a pistol beside him and the cops. Easy to say the cops dropped it, but they would have had to think pretty darned quickly. Also, it is a pretty small pistol. Scott was wearing an ankle-type pistol holster. I've seen them and that pistol was the right size for one of those. With all the cop shootings of black people, not all of them can be grouped together. Tulsa sure can be put in with willful manslaughter, but with Scott, it looks less likely. But the too willing to use deadly force when dealing with blacks by cops, has got to end, and the quicker the better. Just my opinion.

[exboyfil]

9. To further expand on your point

about a gun vs. a book. If it is demonstrated that he had a gun in his hand, I think the daughter did the equivalent of shouting fire in a theater or pointing someone out for a vigilante mob. She went on the internet and claimed that her father was shot while holding a book because he was black.

[BronxBoy]

22. And what if it wasn't a gun?

[exboyfil]

33. Then the cops should go to prison

and the Chief should be fired. The family should win a large lawsuit.

I would not make this comment if I hadn't seen a picture of a gun next to the man who was shot.

[Botany]

5. The man committed no crime .... his car broke down

And now he is dead.

[tonyt53]

6. Uh, wrong dead guy.

[Botany]

10. thanx

n/t

[R0ckyRac00n]

7. Wrong one, Botany.

Isn't that a sad state of affairs, that one has to know which case is being discussed?

[Botany]

11. thanx

n/t

[tazkcmo]

13. yes

So sad.

[dgibby]

8. Wrong man. He was in Tulsa.

Mr. Scott was in NC.

[Botany]

12. thanx

n/t

[TonyPDX]

14. The video shows Scott was unarmed and innocent. The video will eventually be released.

You can count on it.

[Renew Deal]

16. Why would a guy waiting to pick up his kid pull out a gun on a bunch of cops or anyone else?

It doesn't make sense.

[Renew Deal]

18. That still doesn't make sense

[JoePhilly]

19. But it should show it "definitively" if they shot him.

In other words ... if they video does not show that we was CLEARLY a threat to the police, then there wasn't sufficient reason to shoot him at all.

If there was, it should be apparent on the video.

[BronxBoy]

23. Thank you

[uppityperson]

26. I love this bit. The "totality" of the evidence. They shot him, so he was a threat. See?

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said he reviewed video of the shooting and it “does not give me absolute, definitive visual evidence that will confirm a person was pointing a gun. I did not see that in the video.”

But Putney said the “totality” of the evidence supports the police conclusion that officers confronting Scott faced an imminent, deadly threat.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article103367547.html#storylink=cpy

[uppityperson]

25. "Three uniformed officers at the shooting scene had body cameras; Vinson did not, police said." WHY?

Why the fuck is the shooting cop's camera off, or they don't have one? If I were a police officer, I sure would want one to keep myself safe, to show what I do.

[Yo_Mama]

28. Well, plainclothes cops aren't in uniform and don't have them.

They are not supposed to look like cops generally. They wouldn't have body cams.

I imagine he was wearing the police vest because an action was going on and he didn't want to be accidentally shot:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/maryland-cop-mistook-plainclothes-officer-threat-fatal-shooting/story?id=37699834

[uppityperson]

29. Have a cam on every police vest? Seems reasonable to do that. Thanks for the info, I have not

read a lot about these 2 recentest shootings.

[patsimp]

27. its legal to have a gun. Enough of the excuse police use to justify murder. Where is the

proof that it was pointed? if indeed there was a gun in the first place.

[red dog 1]

30. Scott had no gun...He was sitting in his car, reading a book, waiting for his son to be dropped off

by the school bus, like he did every school day.

[red dog 1]

31. This case is a no-brainer...The cops were looking for another black "suspect"

when they saw Scott, sitting in his car.

How the hell could they mistake a fucking BOOK for a gun?

Scott sat in his car every day, reading a book while waiting for his son's schoolbus.

Also, there was at least one eyewitness who knew Scott, and who knew that he sat in his car every day waiting for his son to be dropped off by the school bus.

The cop who murdered this unarmed man deserves to be prosecuted....period!

[drray23]

34. at first it was he had a gun pointed at them

Now they are saying, well not obvious from the video.

By next week there will be no gun. We have seen this play out before.

[rladdi]

37. NC Gov. McCrory signed a bill, stopping law enforcement from showing videos. They will not be

allowed to show any videos in the future. He is hiding the crime in his state. The GOP governors are great at passing bills to exempt them from any criminal acts they may perform.

[Leontius]

38. The "No comment" by the lawyer for the family of Mr. Scott

when asked if the family saw the gun that the police say he had and is visible on the video after they viewed it is strange.

[Vinca]

40. What was the reason the police were bothering this guy to begin with?

Is it against the law for black men to sit in their cars? Apparently he didn't point a gun, according to the chief, but a gun was found at the scene. The family says it wasn't the victim's gun, but even if it was it doesn't matter since North Carolina is an open carry state. So why did they decide to harass this man and eventually execute him?