The New York Times on Friday released a cellphone video of the Tuesday shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old black man killed by a police officer in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Times obtained the video, which was recorded by Scott's wife Rakeyia Scott, from the family's lawyers. The video does not show the shooting itself, but records the moments immediately preceding it as Rakeyia pleads with police: "Don't shoot him. Don't shoot him. He has no weapon." The video then captures the sound of the gunfire and Rakeyia asking, "Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him? He better not be f---ing dead. He better not be f---ing dead... He better be alive."
(Readers who wish to watch the video or read the transcript can do so at The New York Times, here).
A lawyer representing the Scott family said the footage does not prove whether or not the shooting was justified, but rather offers "another vantage point." Police say the officer opened fire after Scott emerged from his car armed with a gun, and only fired after Scott disregarded multiple requests to drop his weapon. Scott's family says he did not have a gun, but rather was holding a book in his hand, and says Scott was waiting for his son to come home from school. Police say they seized a handgun from the scene.
During protests over Scott's death later Tuesday, one demonstrator and more than a dozen police officers were injured. Protests continued through Thursday night, though Thursday's protests were notably more peaceful than the demonstrations earlier in the week.