Authorities
in Charlotte tried to quell public anger Wednesday after a police
officer shot a black man, but a dusk prayer vigil turned into a
second night of violence, with police firing tear gas at angry
protesters and a man being critically wounded by gunfire. North
Carolina’s governor declared a state of emergency in the city.
The man was
not shot by police who had massed in riot gear to keep the marchers
outside an upscale downtown hotel, Charlotte officials announced on
Twitter. City officials originally announced the man was dead but
later reversed that statement and said he was on life support.
The second
night of violent protests added Charlotte to the list of U.S. cities
that have erupted in violence over the death of a black man at the
hands of police.
With
officials refusing to release any video of the Tuesday shooting of
43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott, anger built as two starkly different
versions emerged: Police say Scott disregarded repeated demands to
drop his gun, while neighborhood residents say he was holding a book,
not a weapon, as he waited for his son to get off the school bus.
The killing
inflamed racial tensions in a city that seemed to have steered clear
of the troubles that engulfed other places.
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