# Officer cleared in Charlotte shooting case

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-cleared-in-charlotte-shooting-case/773476>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [November 30, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-cleared-in-charlotte-shooting-case/773476 "2016-11-30T18:23:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-cleared-in-charlotte-shooting-case/773476/1 "2016-11-30T18:23:32Z")

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I’m putting this in the Pit because I know these matters can generate much _Sturm und Drang_.

[Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/11/30/charlotte-police-officer-wont-be-charged-for-fatal-shooting-that-set-off-days-of-unrest-prosecutor-says/)

> [@](#):
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> Prosecutors said that the officer who fatally shot a Charlotte man in September will not be charged for the shooting, concluding that the man was armed and that the officer acted lawfully during the encounter.
> 
> “It’s a justified shooting based on the totality of the circumstances,” R. Andrew Murray, district attorney for Mecklenburg County, said during a news conference Wednesday morning.
> 
> Police have said that Scott raised a gun at officers before Brentley Vinson, a black plainclothes officer in Charlotte, fired the fatal shots.
> 
> Scott’s family has disputed that he pointed a gun at the officer and whether he had a gun. After the shooting, police released photos of a gun and ankle holster, and authorities said that gun was loaded and had Scott’s fingerprints and DNA.
> 
> In a letter to Bob Schurmeier, head of the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation, and Kerr Putney, chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police force, Murray said that evidence included DNA, officers discussing seeing the gun on the radio before the shooting and a person admitting they illegally sold Scott the same gun found at the shooting scene.

I can completely understand the family’s position. Nobody wants to believe ill of a loved one. But these idiots below I cannot understand.

> [@](#):
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> At least one group of activists in Charlotte said they planned to gather outside the police department headquarters on Wednesday evening to protest the decision.

WTF? They should be apologizing to a police officer they defamed not continuing to protest a shooting which was shown to be justified by overwhelming evidence. Protesting before the truth was known is understandable. Continuing to protest in the face of the facts is just mean-spirited and dumb. It does absolutely nothing for the wider cause other than to convince people that all the protests are groundless.

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**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-cleared-in-charlotte-shooting-case/773476/2 "2016-11-30T18:40:59Z")

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I hope the protesters reconsider. It would be foolish in light of the evidence.