In the aftershock of the death of Keith Lamont Scott, a black man shot and killed by North Carolina Police on Tuesday, protests across the state have erupted onto the streets. Thousands of protesters took to the streets to release their anguish of what they believe was just another of a long list of wrongful police killings of Black men and women. The police officer that shot Scott claimed that he was armed and proved to be a threat, however, witnesses and family members claim that Scott was merely reading a book. Protesters beg the North Carolina Police to release a tape of the incident to squash the debate, as faith in police’s word accounts alone is wavering these days. In a press release, the Chief of Police stated that they had found a gun at the scene of the event and they had not recovered a book.
The protests are going on two days strong as of yesterday night,and as tensions increase between the protesters and the police, the once peaceful protests are beginning to turn violent.During the second night of protests, one person was critically injured and is now on life support in near-fatal condition. Many are comparing the North Carolina protests to those in Ferguson amid the shooting of Michael Brown. Protests have been the go-to method in the recent years for people to demonstrate their unrest, especially after shootings and police wrongdoings of Black men and women.
However, many are rather upset at the nature of the Charlotte protests. What started as a peaceful vigil has turned into a violent rampage for vengeance. Footage of the protests shows the destruction of buildings and protesters injuring bystanders. Of course, this is not the nature of all the Charlotte protests as many have remained peaceful. But the ones that do escalate to violence tend to prove a hazard. We understand that the people of Charlotte are angry, grieving even, and a lot of times violence is the easiest way to express this anger. But violence is not always the best way to solve problems because nothing really gets solved with violence. You hit some people, you cuss out cops- and then what? The greater problem is still staring right back at you, unmoved and stronger than ever.
At the same time, if bystanders do not condone the violent protests, the least they could do is attempt to understand them. This is years of oppression we are talking about. Anguish bottled up , and these protests are people’s way of letting just a little of this anguish seep out. When outraged football fans take to the streets after their team has lost, no one barely bats an eye. Yet when people, who actually have an adequate reason for their rage, try to bring attention to their cause, they’re seen as savages. Charlotte is hurting, and rightfully so, and these protests are their way of dealing with their anger and confusion.
