After the fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, protesters have pressured Charlotte-Mecklenburg police to release the videos recorded during the shooting. Scott’s family has reviewed the body cam and dash cam videos and they believe the tapes raise many questions. 

Scott family lawyer Justin Bamberg has strongly urged the CMPD to publicly release the footage.

The CMPD has maintained the narrative that Scott held a gun in his hands at the time of the shooting; however, his family has continuously said that he was not armed. Although a photo has been released which shows a “gun like object,” the public still believes that the videos would show exactly what happened.

CMPD Chief Kerr Putney is reluctant to release the videos, as he believes they do not “definitively” show that Scott held a gun.

After Scott’s family viewed the tapes, they provided their own account of what they believe happened.

Bamberg released a statement as to what they saw in the video:

“When told by police to exit his vehicle, Mr. Scott did so in a very calm, non-aggressive manner.

While police did give him several commands, he did not aggressively approach them or raise his hands at members of law enforcement at any time. It is impossible to discern from the videos what, if anything, Mr. Scott is holding in his hands. When he was shot and killed, Mr. Scott’s hands were by his side and he was slowly walking backwards.”

Chief Putney has promised full transparency in this investigation; however, he still believes that releasing the tapes would do more harm than good.

“I’m telling you right now, if you think I say we should display a victim’s worst day for consumption, that is not the transparency I’m speaking of,” said Putney.