Wednesday, November 30, 2016

No Charges in Killing of Keith Lamont Scott, Whose Police Encounter Was Videotaped by Wife

A North Carolina officer who fatally shot a black man in September, prompting days of violent protests, "acted lawfully" and will not be charged, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Brentley Vinson, who is also black, shot Keith Lamont Scott, 43, in a parking lot as officers were preparing to serve an arrest warrant against someone else. Vinson has said he saw Scott rolling a marijuana joint and holding a gun, and fired at him out of concern for public safety.

The case gained national notoriety after Scott's wife, Rakeyia, shared cellphone video she took of the moments leading up to the killing, in which she begs officers not to shoot her husband.

"It is my opinion that Officer Vinson acted lawfully when he shot Mr. Scott," Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray said at a news conference. "He acted lawfully." 

Click here for the full article. 

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