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Hillary Clinton Urges Charlotte Police To Release Shooting Video To Public, As New Exclusive Cell Phone Video Emerges

By Christine Beswick
Published on: 03:03 PST, Sep 24, 2016

Hillary Clinton was planning a trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, this Sunday, the day before the first national Presidential debate. The Charlotte Observer reports that upon the request of Mayor Jennifer Roberts, Hillary Clinton has postponed her trip in light of the unrest currently happening in the city of Charlotte following the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott earlier this week.

Additionally, ABC News reports that Hillary Clinton has a request of her own: Release the police video of the shooting. Hillary Clinton tweeted the call herself. All tweets coming out of the Hillary Clinton Twitter account being signed by “H” are coming directly from Secretary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton’s plan was to meet with faith leaders in Charlotte tomorrow, one day before the first national Presidential debate. On Friday, she announced that due to the city unrest and violent protests, she would be postponing the trip so that the city could utilize their resources to attend to this societal tragedy. Donald Trump has Charlotte on his schedule as well for Tuesday of next week, it is unclear whether or not he intends to keep those plans.

Hillary Clinton’s delay comes at the request of the Mayor of Charlotte. The Charlotte Observer reports that on Friday, Mayor Jennifer Roberts said she would encourage the Clinton team to “come at a later date.” Communications director for Hillary Clinton immediately put out a statement late yesterday saying,

“Hillary is grateful for, and intends to honor, the invitation from faith leaders to visit with the Charlotte community. After further discussions with community leaders, we have decided to postpone Sunday’s trip as to not impact the City’s resources. She will plan to visit Charlotte next Sunday provided circumstances allow. In the meantime, her prayers are with the people of Charlotte during these difficult times.”

A marquis welcomes Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, July 25, 2016. [Image by Andrew Harnik/AP Images]

On Tuesday afternoon of this week at approximately 3:54 p.m., Charlotte police were on a manhunt for a wanted man. In what was to expected to be a routine traffic stop, they pulled over 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott. Keith Lamont Scot was not the man wanted by police at that time.

During the stop, Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed by Charlotte police.

It has led to a state of riot and unrest in Charlotte and surrounding areas. Protests have been in place in Charlotte since the shooting. On Wednesday, the Governor of North Carolina declared a state of emergency. One protester has died since the incident occurred.

At the center of this protest and unrest is a police video that was taken by the police during the shooting. The police say that the video shows that Keith Scott was holding a gun during the altercation, although the family of Keith Scott have said, no he wasn’t, reports the Charlotte Observer. Keith Scott’s family say he had a book in his hand.

Mayor Roberts said earlier this week that the investigation was ongoing and that the police would release the video upon completion. She did not want the video to be released as a piece of the investigation while many factors were in play. At that time, the family had also not seen the police video of the shooting.

In the meantime, the protests ensued. The protests have led to multiple injured police officers and one fatality. North Carolina students have staged a protest of their own, a “Die-In.” Video of that has begun circulating online.

Justin Bamberg, the lawyer for the Keith Scott family, has since gone public to say Keith Scott’s family has seen the police video at the heart of this unrest and have more questions than answers, reports ABC News.

“After watching the videos, the family again has more questions than answers. When told by police to exit his vehicle, Mr. Scott did so in a very calm, non-aggressive manner. while police did give him several commands, he did not aggressively approach them or raise his hands at members of law enforcement at any time. It is impossible to discern from the videos what, if anything, Mr. Scott is holding in his hands.”

The family does want the video released to the public. ABC News says that the police intend to release it, but they have not given a time.

Keith Lamont Scott is described by police as a man with a long list of felony gun charges reports the Charlotte Observer. In 2004, he had a misdemeanor assault with a weapon charge and was convicted of a DUI in 2015. In 1992, he had an aggravated assault charge, and an assault with intent to kill charge in 1995. The disposition of those cases is “unclear” reports the Observer.

Keith’s family describes him entirely differently. He’s known as a Mama’s Boy by his family, who called his mother every day, and last spoke with his mother at around 2 p.m. Tuesday. That would be the last call he would make to her.

In a separate report by the Charlotte Observer, his mother did not want to speak of Keith in the past tense. Neighbors described Keith as a nice and likable man with a disability. A GoFundMe page has been set up for the Keith Lamont Scott family.

In the wake of the tragedy, Hillary Clinton will use the weekend for debate preparation for Monday’s debate. Donald Trump has expressed his condolences for the city of Charlotte but has not issued a statement about whether or not he’s changed his plans.

He has, however, used the tragedy as an opportunity to slam Hillary Clinton. It seems he did not get the memo that she is not going to Charlotte after all.

In the meantime, the family of Keith Scott has also released a new exclusive video of their own, as Keith’s wife was present during the shooting and took her own video with her cell phone. This graphic video taken by Keith’s wife during the incident captures the moments of the incident by audio, but not by video.

On the video, all you can hear is Keith’s wife telling the police not to shoot him, telling police that he has a “T.B.I. Traumatic Brain Injury” and that he isn’t going to “do anything to you guys.” She also repeatedly tells the police that “he doesn’t have the gun.” Watch this video here, and you can hear the audio of the shooting itself, and Keith’s wife’s aftermath.

The shooting has rocked the community and the town of Charlotte. Anyone with information about the shooting can call police at 704-432-8477, or Crime Stoppers 704-334-1600. What is your reaction to the Charlotte shooting?

[Featured Image by Matt Rourke/AP Images]

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