Residents of Charlotte, North Carolina, woke to a state of emergency on Thursday with National Guard troops deployed on the streets after a second night of violent protests over the fatal police shooting of a black man.
One person was on life support after being shot by a civilian late on Wednesday as riot police used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades to try to disperse demonstrators who looted stores and threw rocks, bottles and fireworks.
Four police officers suffered non-life threatening injuries, city officials said.
The latest trouble erupted after a peaceful rally earlier in the evening by protesters who reject the official account of how Keith Scott (43) was gunned down by a black police officer in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Tuesday afternoon. Authorities say Scott was wielding a handgun and was shot after refusing commands to drop it. His family and a witness say he was holding a book, not a firearm, when he was killed.
Black Lives Matter slogans
Overnight, protesters smashed windows and glass doors at a downtown Hyatt hotel and punched two employees. The slogan “Black Lives Matter” was spray-painted on windows. It was the second night of unrest in North Carolina’s largest city and one of the biggest U.S. financial centres. Sixteen police officers and several protesters were injured on Tuesday night and in the early hours of Wednesday.
Governor Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency on Wednesday night and began the process of deploying the National Guard and State highway patrol officers.
