Thursday, September 22, 2016

Editorial: Charlotte is Drowning in Systematic Injustice

Just before 4pm, on Tuesday, September 20th, a Charlotte police officer shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott outside Scott's parked car. Eyewitness and police reports do not agree on who the officer was, whether Scott was holding a book or a gun, or what took place between officers and Scott before the shooting.

There is much we do not know. But there is unrest in Charlotte because of what we do know. 

We know, whatever the facts, that the law protects the officer, not the victim, in cases like this. Three years ago, a Charlotte officer shot and killed Jonathan Ferrell, an unarmed black man who was asking for help after his car broke down.

The Movement for Black Lives led peaceful protests, and the state conference of the NAACP insisted on due process. The case ended in a hung jury. The attorney general's office denied our request for a re-trial.

There is unrest in Charlotte because of what we know. 

Click here for the full article.

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