September 23, 2016 | No Comments
Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts on Friday called for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to delay their planned trips to the North Carolina city in the wake of three days of protests that she says have strained local resources.
While expressing appreciation for the candidates’ concerns for the city, Roberts told CNN’s Erin Burnett that Charlotte has “very stressed resources for security.”
“If there would be a way to delay these visits in terms of giving us a chance to get our city back to order and back to more of a state of normalcy, that would probably be ideal,” she said.
Clinton’s campaign announced earlier Friday that the candidate would visit Charlotte Sunday, however, in a statement released later Friday, Clinton campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri confirmed that the visit had been postponed.
“Hillary is grateful for, and intends to honor, the invitation from faith leaders to visit with the Charlotte community. After further discussion with community leaders, we have decided to postpone Sunday’s trip as to not impact the City’s resources. She will plan to visit Charlotte next Sunday, provided circumstances allow. In the meantime her prayers are with the people of Charlotte during these difficult days.”
Trump reportedly was considering visiting the city next week, following his upcoming presidential debate against the Democratic nominee.
Clinton has called for Charlotte police to release video footage of the confrontation between officers and Keith Lamont Scott, the African-American man whose fatal shooting by a police officer Tuesday ignited recent protests. Clinton wrote on Twitter Friday: “Charlotte should release police video of the Keith Lamont Scott shooting without delay. We must ensure justice & work to bridge divides.”
Charlotte should release police video of the Keith Lamont Scott shooting without delay. We must ensure justice & work to bridge divides. -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 23, 2016
Roberts, who favors releasing the video as long as it does not impinge the “integrity” of the investigation, also weighed in Friday on the ongoing controversy over whether Scott was carrying a weapon, as officers have claimed.
“I think all three videos have obscured or blurred or it is not precise enough view of what was actually going on,” she said. “So I it remains inconclusive in my opinion.”