Charlotte mayor joins calls for release of Scott police shooting video

The mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, Jennifer Roberts.

(Image credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

published 23 September 2016

Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts (D) said Friday she agrees with community members calling for the release of video showing Tuesday's fatal police shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina. "I would like to have it released," Roberts said, though she noted the footage from body and dashboard cameras leaves the circumstances surrounding Scott's death "ambiguous."

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney announced Thursday the videos would not be released to the public, though they were shown to Scott's family at their request. After seeing the film, the family advocated for its release "as a matter of the greater good and transparency." Roberts herself said she thinks it's "only a matter of time" until the footage is publicly available.

Police say Scott was armed when he encountered officers, and that he disregarded commands to drop his weapon; witnesses have said he was carrying only a book, and his family said he appeared "very calm" and "non-aggressive" in the videos. "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," said Justin Bamberg, an attorney for the Scott family. "It is impossible to discern from the videos what, if anything, Mr. Scott is holding in his hands."