After Charlotte, North Carolina, saw a second night of violence and destruction in the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of a black man, it is becoming clear that this is a trend which will likely continue: While shouting that “black lives matter,” looters and rioters lay waste to portions of their own cities and attack others, police officers and white people in particular. This much is clear: While black lives matter, as do all lives, the lies of Black Lives Matter (BLM) have deadly and destructive consequences.
As The New American reported Wedesday, the anger of many black residents of Charlotte was fanned into flames by the false narrative that Keith Lamont Scott was unarmed and carrying only a book when Officer Brentley Vinson shot him simply because he was black. There are two major problems with that narrative. First, Officer Vinson — who followed in his father’s footsteps to become a police officer and has been with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) for two years — is also black. So it is highly unlikely that his shooting of Scott was racially motivated. Second, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney — who has reviewed the video from the body and dash cameras which captured video of the shooting — has made it clear that Scott was carrying a handgun and refused to drop it when ordered to do so. That gun was recovered at the scene, but no book was recovered. As we reported previously:
At 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney, Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, and Executive Director of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Willie Ratchford held a press conference at Charlotte’s City Hall. Putney said that the social media narrative is false and has led to unwarranted violence. He said a gun was recovered at the scene and that Scott did not have a book on him at the scene. “We’re still going through all of the footage from both body-worn and dash,” he told the assembled press. He added, “I can tell you a weapon was seized, a handgun. I can also tell you we did not find a book that has been made reference to.” Furthermore, it is not merely the word of the officers on the scene and the investigators in the case that unravels the loose threads of the BLM lies about what happened. Witnesses at the time of the shooting saw Scott with the gun and heard the officers order him to drop it. “The officers gave loud clear verbal commands which were also heard by many of the witnesses,” Putney said in his statement to the press, adding, “They instructed him to drop the weapon.”
Perhaps it comes as no surprise that BLM has lied about another police shooting of a black man, but it matters nonetheless because the lies of BLM are successfully tearing yet another American city apart at the seams. As this writer said Wednesday of the rioting and looting that ravaged the city from Tuesday night through the early hours of Wednesday morning:
Charlotte and surrounding police departments used tear gas and riot gear to work at containing and de-escalating the situation. At least a dozen officers were injured, and some were hospitalized for their injuries. The violence and destruction continued through the night and finally died down in the early morning hours of Wednesday. By the time it was over, the people shouting that “black lives matter” had destroyed much of their own black neighborhoods. Oh, the irony.
This writer imagines that #ItWasABook will become a new mantra of BLM in the days and weeks to come, similar to the #HandsUpDon’tShoot mantra that gained so much attention after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. Both of these mantras are — of course — demonstrably false. Brown was proved — by witness testimony and forensic evidence — to be running toward Officer Darren Wilson when he was shot, and it is already certain that Scott was armed and that there was not even a book at the scene at the time of his shooting.
Of course, as the story has developed, more is now known. In all, the number of police officers injured in that first round of what the mainstream media likes to call “unrest” was actually 16. And it looks like that first round was just a warm-up. As The New American predicted in that previous report:
So, here we go again. It’s like a rerun of a bad TV show. A police officer is doing a routine part of his job — in this case, serving an outstanding warrant — and encounters an armed black man who refuses to obey orders to drop the gun in his hand. When the officer reasonably believes he and his fellow officers are in immediate danger, he shoots the armed black man. Then crowds take to the streets throughout the night, burning and pillaging their own neighborhoods while shouting that “black lives matter.” If the trend holds true from past similar episodes, Wednesday will show signs of calm while the rioters sleep it off and then Wednesday night, it will play all over again.
Unfortunately, the trend of previous episodes of violence and looting in other cities has continued. Wednesday night saw more (and more violent) rioting and looting. While the mainstream media is content to use soft terms to describe the event and the participants (“protests” and “demonstrations” instead of rioting and looting; “protesters” and “activists” instead of vandals, thieves, and violent attackers), the reality is that Charlotte, North Carolina, is a war-zone and a very dangerous place right now.
In the second night of pillaging and marauding, police made 44 arrests, more property was destroyed, nine civilians, five police officers, and at least two journalists were injured, and one young man was shot. Many businesses in uptown Charlotte — where most of the violence has occurred — have told employees to stay home. Before the tumult died down, Governor Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency and called in the State Police and the North Carolina National Guard.
In an effort to put an end to the destruction in Charlotte, Chief Putney is making the video of the dashcams available for the family of Scott. He says that they will see for themselves on those videos that Scott was holding the gun in his hand and refused to drop it when ordered to do so. In a reasonable world that would settle the issue. Unfortunately, reasonableness is not BLM’s strong point. If it were, BLM would not have to spread lies to put forth an agenda.
That agenda is a war on police predicated on the lie that police officers routinely shoot and kill unarmed black men. The results of those lies and that agenda can be seen in all its vivid ugliness in Charlotte, Milwaukee, and other cities across America.
It takes a special kind of ignorance to think that burning, looting, and destroying one’s own neighborhoods is a constructive way to deal with perceived injustice. But just to make it worse, in this case — as in so many others — the perception — fed by the lies of the BLM crowd — has no basis in reality.
Of course, it is also obvious that many in the underbelly of the black community are simply criminal opportunists using “social injustice” and “rage” to mask looting, vandalism, and violence.
So, while some black residents of Charlotte feel that police are the greatest threat to their lives, the criminal actions of rioters and looters masquerading as protesters have brought in even more police. Plus, it is the city’s law-abiding black residents who are most hurt by the crime and destruction committed in their city in the name of “social justice.” And, to top it all off, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has said that the U.S. Justice Department is “assessing” the situation in Charlotte, a likely indicator that there will be a federal investigation.
Photo: AP Images
