Charlotte activists accused the police department of framing a man for murder, among other things at a press conference hosted by Charlotte Uprising Monday.
Activists demanded the release of a man charged with the murder of Charlotte protester Justin Carr.
Carr was fatally shot by Rayquan Borum, during a night of violent riots that rocked Charlotte, after a black officer shot black civilian Keith Lamont Scott.
Charlotte Uprising, a group that formed in the wake of the Charlotte riots, calls for an “end of the killing of black people.”
Claiming he was an eye-witness to Carr’s murder, Dhruv Pathak, a speaker at the press conference, declared that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) framed Borum.
“I was about 15 feet away from where Justin Carr was murdered … I did not see the actual shot being fired into Justin but I was there and I’m 100 percent positive that Justin Carr was killed by CMPD that night,” Pathak alleged.
The activists are now calling for the dropping of all charges against Borum, an independent investigation into the killing of Carr and an independent autopsy of Carr’s body, Pathak continued.
One reporter asked how Pathak could be sure that the CMPD framed Borum if he did not see the actual shot.
“I was very vigilant during the entire protest. I’m not even sure I saw Rayquan there. But I didn’t see any civilian with any sort of weapons except for CMPD,” Pathak maintained.
Michael Johnson, a protester, spoke after Pathak. He alleged that the violence police used against protesters was completely unjustified.
“They attack us, they beat us. There’s no reason for it. On the media, you see nothing but violent images, you see nothing but fires and broken windows. But you then have to realize that you criminalize us … you can’t attack us, you can’t harm us, you can’t traumatize us and expect us not to react,” Johnson declared.
During the nights of rioting, many Charlotte businesses were looted and destroyed. Some protesters tried to set a reporter on fire. (RELATED: Here’s How Charlotte Rioters Expressed Their ‘Frustrations’)
Towards the end of the press conference, activists pointed out that Charlotte Uprising accepts donations for supplies, as well as money for bond.
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