The city of Charlotte, North Carolina has been ablaze with rioting and looting after the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, a black man, by police officer Brentley Vinson, who is also a black man.
So what exactly happened at this shooting? Here are nine things you need to know about it.
1. Scott has an extensive criminal record. Scott’s record shows him being found guilty of or pleading guilty to the following, according to The Federalist:
- Assault with a deadly weapon and avoiding arrest in 2005.
- Misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon in 2004.
- Carrying a concealed weapon, assault, and helping the delinquency of a minor in 1992.
There were also a myriad charges in these cases that were later dismissed, including threats, assault on a female and a minor under 12 years of age and illegally carrying a weapon.
2. A report has surfaced that Scott’s wife filed for a restraining order against him not long ago:
Less than a year ago, #KeithLamontScott‘s wife filed for a restraining order. This was part of the form. Details on @TWCNewsCLT at 5. pic.twitter.com/Fmk7LjRkxT
— Jenna Barnes (@Jenna_Barnes) September 26, 2016
3. There are two different stories being told about what happened. The police officers involved had an arrest warrant ready for someone when Scott exited the car, then went back into it when he saw the police. The police attempted to arrest Scott by using “a baton to ‘breach the window’ of the SUV” Scott was in, according to NBC News, at which point police say he came out of the vehicle with a firearm. Scott’s family, on the other hand, has claimed that he was simply holding a book. Which one is correct?
4. The evidence points to Scott having a gun. The police released a couple of videos so far, which the Daily Wire‘s Michael Qazvini detailed at length here. The videos aren’t necessarily conclusive that Scott was holding a gun, but they do show the police repeatedly ordering Scott to “drop the gun” as he backed up and refused to comply with the police’s orders. Bob Owens at Bearing Arms thinks that an ankle holster can be seen on Scott as well as him holding a Colt Mustang Plus II.
Regardless, a gun was indeed found at the scene of the shooting by the police that had Scott’s DNA on it, but no book was found.
5. This would mean that Scott was carrying the gun illegally. It is illegal under federal law to have a gun when convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison for over a year. Scott was sentenced to seven years in prison for his 2005 assault with a deadly weapon conviction.
6. Scott was also in possession of marijuana at the time. However, it was not the object of the officers’ focus.
“Due to the combination of illegal drugs and the gun Mr. Scott had in his possession, officers decided to take enforcement action for public safety concerns,” the police involved stated.
7. If Scott had followed the federal gun laws–as well as the police’s orders–then maybe he would still be alive today. This is the point D.C. McAllister makes here.
8. Despite what the facts say, rioting and looting ensued in Charlotte following the Scott shooting. As documented here and here, there have been people–including a reporter–attacked, windows smashed and cars trashed in these riots. And it’s all because a black officer shot an armed black man.