The city of Charlotte, N.C. erupted into chaos earlier Wednesday morning after dozens of people blocked a highway and clashed violently with police to protest the fatal shooting of a black man.
Keith Scott, 43, was fatally shot and killed by Charlotte-Mecklenburg officer Brentley Vinson, who had mistaken him for a wanted man. Officer Vinson is also African American.
Police said they were searching for a man with an outstanding warrant when they saw Scott getting out of his car; allegedly with a gun in hand. He then went back into his vehicle, at which point the police deemed him an imminent threat, surrounded his car and opened fire.
But a counter narrative has emerged from neighbors and witnesses of the scene, which also has been widely circulated online. According to bystanders, Scott was a disabled man who was simply reading a book, waiting for his kid to come home, when the cops shot him—for no apparent reason.
In a video posted on Facebook live, Scott’s daughter Lyric can be heard yelling at investigators on the scene, after finding out her father had been shot.
“He ain’t got no motherfucking gun you fucking pigs […] He can’t even do shit. My motherfucking daddy is definitely disabled […] You motherfuckers ran upon him because he’s black.”
Police officials confirmed on Tuesday that a firearm was recovered at the scene and said that, as is standard procedure in these cases, Vinson would be placed on paid administrative leave.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered on Interstate 85 early Wednesday morning, where they blocked access to the highway and started fires before the police used grenades to disperse them, according to WCNC.
Earlier in the night, police forces in anti-riot gear reportedly used tear gas and flash bang grenades on protesters who were wielding large batons and targeting them with rocks and water bottles, according to NBC.
A dozen police officers were injured during the violent clashes, and one was taken to the hospital after being hit by a rock in the head, according to law enforcement officials.
The Charlotte protests fueled a climate of racial tension in the country, following of summer of similar incidents involving police. The violent clashes also poured oil on an already fiery situation, as they come in the heels of the release on Monday of disturbing footage of an unarmed black man, Terence Crutcher, being tasered and then shot by the police after his car broke down in the middle of a motorway in Oklahoma.
The police confirmed on Monday that Crutcher was unarmed.