North Carolina lawmakers defend police, call for calm in Charlotte | McClatchy Washington Bureau

North Carolina lawmakers defended the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department after one of its officers fatally shot 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott, who was sitting in his car Tuesday while police were searching for a person with an outstanding warrant.

Lawmakers also blasted a call by a local Nation of Islam religious leader for a boycott of businesses in Charlotte, which already has been wracked by protests and violence stemming from public response to the shooting. Scott was African-American, as is the police officer, Brentley Vinson, who shot him.

Scott was shot because he was carrying a weapon and refused to drop it, Police Chief Kerr Putney said. Some members of Scott’s family contend that he was holding a book and not a gun at the time of the incident. They say that Scott had disabilities and didn’t own a gun.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said in a statement that the people who took to the streets of Charlotte on Tuesday night had embarrassed the city.

“The response to the shooting that occurred yesterday was utter chaos that resulted in the looting of private property and injuries to the very officers who were working to protect the safety of the protesters,” Tillis said. “It was an embarrassing moment for the city that was only redeemed by the brave men and women of the CMPD, who demonstrated incredible composure, which likely prevented the violence from escalating further.”

“The emotions are totally understood,” Republican Rep. Robert Pittenger of Charlotte said in an interview. “There’s a loss of life. A family member is gone, and I deeply understand the emotions, but I think we have to wait and let the facts bear itself out.”

Republican Sen. Richard Burr asked that the turmoil cease and the police be given the space they needed to conduct their investigation.

“I think we can all agree there is no place in America for violence in our streets,” he said in a statement.

But that doesn’t mean the protests need to cease, said Democrat Rep. Alma Adams of Charlotte. It is important for the community to come together over concern about the killing, she said in an interview on CNN.

“If people want to protest, then I think they should protest,” she told The Charlotte Observer. “It’s their right to protest. This is clearly an issue that our community is concerned about.”

Adams said she had been in touch with elected officials in Charlotte and was prepared to return to the city from Washington if her presence was warranted.

North Carolina law allows residents to carry concealed weapons if they obtain permits for those weapons and receive approval from their local sheriffs’ offices. If Scott had a weapon, he should have left it in the car when he encountered the police, Pittenger said.

“You can have a right to have a gun, but not to pull it out when you’re told to stay in the car,” he said. “I mean, look at what occurred. If you’re being addressed by police officers, you don’t get out with a gun in your hand. Common sense will tell you that.”

The N.C. Department of Justice advises concealed carry permit holders that if approached by law enforcement, they should disclose that they are concealed carry permit holders but “should not attempt to draw or display your weapon or your permit for the officer unless and until he/she directs you to do so.”

North Carolina also allows for open carrying of a handgun.

Presidential candidates also weighed in on the Tuesday night turmoil. Republican Donald Trump turned to Twitter to describe the situation as “tragic” and called for unity and an end to the violence.

Democrat Hillary Clinton implied on her Twitter account that police had once again reacted disproportionately to a member of the black community.

“I have been privileged to spend a lot of time with mothers who have lost children and young people who feel that as far as their country is concerned their lives are disposable,” Clinton said during a rally in Florida. “We’ve got to do better, and I know we can.”

Local civil leaders expressed anger over the mistreatment of that community during a news conference Wednesday morning. One of them, Rev. B.J. Murphy of the Nation of Islam, called for an economic boycott in Charlotte. If black lives don’t matter, then the black dollar shouldn’t matter, he said during the news conference.

Pittenger said his biggest concern for the Charlotte community was people like Murphy “exploiting the problem.”

“If this is somebody trying to incite and agitate, then shame on him,” he said. “You know, we have an African-American chief of police who is an African-American officer, so now why does he make this a racial issue?”

Adams questioned whether a boycott would be effective.

“I don’t know that, really, boycotting something would have the kind of impact that it used to have,” she said.