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Michael Jordan calls for calm in Charlotte amid protests over police killing of black man

Dan Devine
Senior NBA writer
Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan answers a question during an Oct. 28, 2014, news conference. (AP/Chuck Burton)
Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan answers a question during an Oct. 28, 2014, news conference. (AP/Chuck Burton)

Two days after a black Charlotte police officer shot and killed 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott, Charlotte Hornets owner and basketball legend Michael Jordan issued a statement urging “peaceful demonstration and conversation” following nights marked by violence and unrest in which hundreds have taken to the streets to protest the growing number of fatal shootings of black men across the United States by members of law enforcement.

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Here’s Jordan’s statement, as released by the Hornets:

“First, I want to express my condolences to the Scott family for their loss. I also wish for a full recovery to those who have been injured.

“In light of the tragic events of the past three days, it is more important than ever that we restore calm and come together, as a community, in peaceful demonstration and conversation, and in constructive and non-violent ways. As part of the fabric of Charlotte, the Hornets organization is committed to working with civic leaders, our elected leaders and law enforcement to foster more trust, transparency and understanding so we can heal and grow together as a community.”

The statement comes nearly two months after Jordan wrote an essay responding to nationwide unrest stemming from multiple instances in which police shot and killed black men and officers were shot and killed.

“We need to find solutions that ensure people of color receive fair and equal treatment AND that police officers — who put their lives on the line every day to protect us all — are respected and supported,” wrote Jordan, who also contributed $1 million each to two organizations, the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s Institute for Community-Police Relations and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, to help “build trust and respect between communities and law enforcement.”

Fellow NBA legend and Hall of Famer Magic Johnson also offered his thoughts via Twitter:

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers went to the Village at College Downs apartment complex to serve an outstanding warrant on Tuesday afternoon. Scott wasn’t the person they were trying to serve. Officers say they saw Scott get out of a vehicle in the complex “armed with a handgun,” then get back into the vehicle, at which point they approached him and “gave loud and clear commands, corroborated by witnesses, to drop the weapon,” despite North Carolina being a state in which both the open carrying of a handgun and the concealed carry of a weapon (provided you have a permit) are legal.

Despite officers’ commands, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Kerr Putney, Scott got out of the car with the gun. “Within seconds,” according to the Charlotte Observer, “Scott was shot. Authorities said Scott posed an imminent threat of danger.”

Scott’s family and residents of the apartment complex dispute police’s version of events, saying Scott — who leaves behind a wife and seven children — “was unarmed, holding only a book, and disabled by a brain injury,” according to The Associated Press:

“He got out of his car, he walked back to comply, and all his compliance did was get him murdered,” said Taheshia Williams, whose balcony overlooks the shady parking spot where Scott was Tuesday afternoon. She said he often waited there for his son because a bicycle accident several years ago left him stuttering and susceptible to seizures if he stayed out in the hot sun too long.

Putney, the police chief, was angered by the stories on social media, especially a profanity-laced, hourlong video on Facebook, where a woman identifying herself as Scott’s daughter screamed “My daddy is dead!” at officers at the shooting scene and repeating that he was only holding a book.

Putney was adamant that Scott posed a threat, even if he didn’t point his weapon at officers, and said a gun was found next to the dead man. He also said: “I can tell you we did not find a book.”

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Putney told reporters Thursday that video footage of Scott’s killing captured by officers’ body cameras does not show “absolute, definitive visual evidence” that Scott pointed a weapon at anyone before shots were fired at him, though he also said that the video, “when taken in the totality of all the other evidence […] supports what we’ve heard and the version of the truth that [police] gave about the circumstances that happened that led to the death of Mr. Scott.” The plainclothes officer who shot Scott, 26-year-old Brentley Vinson, wasn’t wearing a camera. He was been placed on administrative leave.

Putney said he’s working to honor the request of Scott’s family to view the video footage, but that police have no plans to release the footage to the public, saying the department only releases video “when we believe there is a compelling reason” and that he supports transparency in the case, “but I never said full transparency.” Open government advocates have criticized that decision, suggesting the lack of transparency helps create the conditions in which protests such as the ones in Charlotte’s streets on Tuesday and Wednesday — which reportedly started out peaceful before turning violent — can take hold.

Protestors broke into and looted the Hornets team store at Time Warner Cable Arena, as well as several other buildings, during Wednesday’s protests. Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency Wednesday night and called in the National Guard. The Justice Department will also reportedly be sending a team of trained peacekeepers to Charlotte, whose role will be to help resolve community conflict.

Jordan’s calls for calm, peace and nonviolence echo those of Scott’s wife, Rakeiya Scott, according to the Observer:

“After listening to remarks made by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Putney today, we have more questions than answers about Keith’s death,” she said. “Rest assured, we will work diligently to get answers to our questions as quickly as possible.”

Rakeiya Scott also asked for peace.

“As a family, we respect the rights of those who wish to protest, but we ask that people protest peacefully,” she said in her statement. “Please do not hurt people or members of law enforcement, damage property or take things that do not belong to you in the name of protesting.”

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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