National News

No charges in Charlotte shooting; no confi dence in justice system

By Andrea Muhammad -Final Call Contributor- | Last updated: Dec 7, 2016 - 1:38:34 PM

What's your opinion on this article?

charolotte_police-notcharged_12-13-2016.jpg
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—District Attorney R. Andrew Murray recently announced he would not file charges against Charlotte police officer Brentley Vinson after the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation concluded its investigation into the officer involved shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott. 

Officer Vinson and other officers were serving an unrelated warrant in a neighboring apartment complex as Mr. Scott was sitting in his truck waiting on his son’s school bus to arrive. According to Charlotte police officers, he was ordered out of his vehicle for brandishing a gun. According to the investigation, Off. Vinson felt threatened by “a glazed look in the eyes of” the 43-year-old father and husband and fearing for his life, opened fire on Mr. Scott killing him.

The deadly encounter went viral on social media and subsequent clashes between police and protestors (including the death of a protestor) prompted Gov. Pat McCory to impose a curfew and call up the National Guard.

The highly anticipated press conference by District Attorney Murray took place on Nov. 30. Mr. Murray wrote in the opening of a 22 page report, “After a thorough review, it is my conclusion that Officer Vinson acted lawfully in shooting Scott on September 20, 2016.”

During the hour long press conference, District Attorney Murray said, “It’s a justified shooting based on the totality of the circumstances. He’s told numerous times to drop the gun. He then gets out and doesn’t turn to run away from the officers, he turns towards them with a look”—which he cited as a basis for Off. Vinson to believe “he was in imminent threat of death or the death of his fellow officers.”

Mr. Murray also went on to present text messages between Mr. Scott and his wife over a gun along with unrelated video footage of him wearing a gun in an ankle holster prior to his death. 

An attorney for Mr. Scott’s immediate family, Justin Bramberg, read a written statement from the family in response to the district attorney, “We are profoundly disappointed in their decision not to criminally charge Officer Brantley Vinson for his actions in taking the life of Keith Lamont Scott.”

“All our family wanted was justice and for these members of law enforcement to understand that what they did was wrong,” he said.

In an interview with The Final Call, Mr. Scott’s older brother, Dwayne, said neither he, nor his mother, nor his six siblings agree with the district attorney’s decision to not file any charges in his brother’s death. “We’re not just going to lie down and let them get away with this,” he vowed.

charolotte_protest_12-13-2016.jpg
Charlotte protestors demand justice for Keith Lamont Scott. Photo: Andrea Muhammad.

Ironically, Dwayne Scott lives in North Charleston, S.C. His city was in the national spotlight with two high profile murder trials. The trial of officer Michael Slager in the death of Walter Scott which ended in a mistrial and the trial of Dylan Roof for killing nine Black people during prayer service at Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston. 

Attorney Eduardo Curry told Roland Martin during an interview on News One, “The family is conducting their own independent investigation and though there are no criminal charges at this time, if we uncovered any additional, new information certainly they have the right to go back and review it if they believe that it is criminal.”

“The SBI (State Bureau of Investigation) has conducted their investigation; they’re going to give us those files. They’ve said that they’re going to give us the complete files. We’re going to be able to look at the unedited or uncut versions of the body cams as well as the dash cams as well as any other cam that may have recorded things, audio and or visual. We’ll be able to do our own investigation in regard to Mr. Keith Lamont’s file.”

Mr. Martin also interviewed B.J. Murphy of the BJ Murphy Show (also known as Brother Daniel X in the Nation of Islam). He decried the suggestion that Mr. Scott’s “glazed eyes” posed that much of a threat to the officers. “It’s a shame that a glazed look in the eye of a Black man can get you killed. Officer Vinson said he felt threatened, he saw a ‘glazed look in his eye’ so he fired off on our brother.”

Mr. Murphy took the district attorney to task for presenting unrelated video and text messages depicting Mr. Scott in an unfavorable light. “Remember this is an innocent Black man that has been demonized and criminalized by the DA. You see how they set up to justify murder. We saw videos of things come out that we’ve never seen before.”

Like many, he’s skeptical of SBI’s investigation. “These people are scientific liars and murderers. Remember that the SBI said that they don’t have any conclusive evidence that his fingerprints matched the gun. There’s no video evidence of him even having the gun, so now we have to go by what CMPD says when [they] are known to be liars and plant guns on Black people? That’s our history with the police, the Justice Department and the people over law enforcement in America.”

Charlotte Uprising is a coalition of local community members, state and national organizers committed to ensuring the safety of their communities. In a statement to The Final Call organizers said:

“Charlotte Uprising was not surprised in the outcome of the DAs response. We knew that an indictment would not bring KLS [Keith Lamont Scott] back to life nor would it change a system that continues to oppress people of color. As for next steps we are looking to continue to build and grow with the Charlotte community. We believe that fighting for peace is identifying the root cause of police violence and unyieldingly challenging it.”

Student Minister Corey Muhammad of Muhammad Mosque 36 in Charlotte said, “the DA decision to not indict the CMPD officer that shot Keith Lamont Scott is the latest wake-up call that this system of ‘justice’ cannot and will not give justice to Black people in America.”

He pointed out, “the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has told us we’re at war and we have to unite to overcome the evil being done to us. There is God’s law of justice that no one can escape from or lie to cover up.  The Minister said ‘watch the weather’ and on the same day of the DA making that announcement, small tornadoes hit the Charlotte area.”