This past Tuesday, North Carolina police fatally shot an African American man. On November 20th, North Carolina police were searching for another suspect when they believed this particular black man to be armed and fired.
While the police say the victim, Keith Lamont Scott, was armed and posed a direct threat to the community, witnesses of the event—including Scott's family members and claimed that Scott was carrying a book waiting for his son.
Police said that Scott refused multiple requests by the police to withdraw his handgun but Scott went back into his car and exited still having the weapon in hand.
Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney said, "He exited the vehicle with a handgun as the officers continued to yell at him to drop it. He stepped out, posting a threat to others."
Later, Putney added that he did not quite know if Scott directly pointed the handgun to any officer present.
After an officer fired, the police immediately performed CPR on Scott. Unfortunately, Scott later died in the hospital.
The shooting occurred shortly before 4 p.m. at an apartment building a mile from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. This fatal shooting took place less than a week after another Black man was fatally shot by police in Oklahoma. Similar to Scott, Terence Crutcher, the 40-year-old man who was shot in Oklahoma was also shot by police responding to another call completely unrelated to the incident.
Because both shootings of African-Americans occurred within a week of one another, numerous riots broke out. Citizens are questioning the motives and rights of police officers more than ever. Police vehicles were surrounded by angry protestors and according to Huffington Post, over a dozen police officers were injured due to protestors throwing rocks and other outside debris at the officers.
Protestors also set a fire on the highway after stealing a cargo vehicle. The driver of the WSOC-TV was very frightened and said, "I understand they want to make a statement, but they are hurting innocent people trying to make a living."
Lyric Scott, Scott's daughter, claimed that her father did not have a gun and was shot four times before passing. She believed the shooting had to do with her father being Black and said, "The police shot my daddy four times for being black."
North Carolina police did not reveal how many shots were fired.
This incident is just another added to the other five similar situations that occurred within the last year. Including this North Carolina incident, there has been six incidents where Charlotte police officers have been involved in fatal shootings of an individual. Police have been found to be right in their decisions of the shootings in the previous five cases.
Do the police have a right to shoot a civilian that seems to be armed? Was it clear that Scott had a handgun, and if so, was it clear that he posed a direct violent threat and was going to use his weapon to harm the officers or others?
The answers to these questions are unclear. This case is still undergoing much investigation. However, the role of police officers as well as the rights enlisted by the Constitution are criticized.
The United States gives individuals the opportunity for free speech and expression. The right to publicly say whatever one pleases versus the damage done by the words and/or expression has always been a controversial issue.
Police officers should be focused on the call that they had first received. But, if Scott posed an immediate threat to the community and the officers were sure he was going to fire, that gives the officers the right to fire. But, it wasn't clear if Scott even had a weapon.
Understandably, the protestors are hurt and angry. Civilians have been outraged by police officers lately, and that is completely ok. But, sometimes protestors take their anger too far and put other civilians at harm with their actions. Protestors also need to realize that although a human being was shot by police officers, they have to be mindful of how their group actions of raiding streets and causing fires could be extremely hazardous to the surrounding community.
Both the role of police officers and protesters/civilians come into play. Everyone has varying opinions. Many strongly dislike the police and feel they have too much power to do what they want. Others feel the police are doing their job and it's hard to keep the community safe when violent threats are posed. Regardless of what happened in this North Carolina shooting, the United States needs to come together.
There have been too many fatal shootings recently. Many of them have been carried out by police officers. But, every case is different and should be individually treated. It's difficult to not lump all these fatal shootings together because the same outcome is continuing to happen. Innocent lives are being taken by police officers. But, that doesn't mean all police officers are bad. It doesn't mean police officers shouldn't have the right to protect our country. It doesn't mean that police officers have too much power. It doesn't mean that police officers' roles should not be questioned either. Our country is at a time where violence and fatal shootings are not surprising.
Taking out our anger by having civil conversations and peacefully protests is a lot safer than using physical force.
Emotions drive many of the decisions our country and us as individuals make. Sometimes logic needs to also come into play. Our country needs to find a better balance between logic and emotion. We cannot keep fighting using physical force. All human beings deserve the respect to be talked to rather than being unexpectedly hurt via violent and physical actions.
Below is a link to the number of police officers killed yearly. Not just civilians are killed. It's everyone.
https://ucr.fbi.gov/leoka/2000
