fbpx
Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

The Charlotte Riot

Which is the more important political fact: the shooting of Keith Scott, or the rioting that followed?
shutterstock_208336891

Here is a startling Charlotte TV station’s real-time updates of last night’s rioting. The basic story: Charlotte cops say that in trying to execute a search warrant, Keith Lamont Scott — who was not the target of the warrant — got out of his car in a parking lot and brandished a gun. Police say they ordered him to put down the gun, but he refused. One officer fired the shot or shots that killed Scott. Both Scott and the officer are black.

Scott’s family said he had a book, not a gun. Police say they recovered a gun from him, and that numerous witnesses saw them order him to drop the gun, and saw him refuse.

Then the riot began. Twelve cops were injured, and the mob destroyed at least one police vehicle. Excerpts from the timeline. Read from the bottom up:

Reporter Joe Bruno spoke with the driver who was stuck inside her tractor-trailer as looters stole her cargo.

The woman was taking car parts to Greensboro and feared for her life.

“I understand they want to make a statement, but they are hurting innocent people trying to make a living,” the woman told Bruno.

She repeatedly asked Bruno where police are while she’s trapped inside as people destroy her tractor-trailer and cargo.

2:15 a.m.: Protesters are looting from a tractor-trailer stuck in traffic.

1:40 a.m.: Protesters walked onto Interstate 85 blocking both directions at Harris Boulevard.

And then, rioters invaded a local Wal-mart to liberate TVs and other electronics for the sake of justice, or something:

This happened too:

We still don’t know what really happened in that parking lot. But the mob is sure that it knows, and that looting and violence is the right response.

Kellyanne Conway has Trump leashed so far:

Hillary has responded personally (that’s what her tweets marked “-H” mean), and has apparently decided that the police were wrong:

Notice that Trump focused (however softly) on the rioting, while Hillary focused on the victim of the police shooting. That’s a big, and not unexpected, difference. Question for the room: Which is the more important political fact about events of the last 24 hours in Charlotte: the shooting of Keith Scott, or the rioting that followed?

 

 

Advertisement

Comments

Want to join the conversation?

Subscribe for as little as $5/mo to start commenting on Rod’s blog.

Join Now