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NC senator: Judge will release fatal OIS video if mayor won’t

A judge likely will force Charlotte’s mayor to release all videos of the fatal OIS of Keith Lamont Scott before a new law takes effect

keithlamontscottART.jpg

This image made from video provided by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016 shows Keith Scott, left, moments before he was fatally shot by police in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 20, 2016.

AP Photo/Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department

Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A top North Carolina legislator is warning that a judge likely will force Charlotte’s mayor to release all videos chronicling an officer’s fatal shooting of a black man last week unless she makes them public before a new law takes effect Saturday.

Republican Senate leader Phil Berger wrote Mayor Jennifer Roberts on Friday about Keith Lamont Scott, whose death by a black Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer led to violent street protests last week. The State Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the shooting.

The police chief has released some footage. Civil rights groups want the rest of it released.

Starting Saturday, requests for police body and dash camera video are decided on by judges. But Berger says the city still can still release the footage voluntarily Friday and Roberts should do so.

The mayor’s spokesman didn’t immediately respond to an email and text seeking comment.

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