Hillary Clinton postpones visit to Charlotte

Clinton's team said the presidential candidate had decided to postpone her trip, originally planned for Sunday, after community leaders requested that she wait to visit the beleagured southern city.

Mayor Jennifer Roberts, a Democrat, told CNN that Clinton needed to give the people of Charlotte "a chance to get our city back to order" following four nights of protests in response to the killing of 43-year-old Keith Scott.

Earlier on Friday, Clinton called on Charlotte authorities to release footage of the shooting. That same day, the family of the victim, 43-year-old Keith Scott, released a video of the incident. The footage was recorded by Scott's wife, Rakeyia, who's heard in the video shouting, "Don't shoot him! He has no weapon! Don't shoot him!"

Meanwhile, the fourth night of protests in Charlotte remained peaceful after the previous days were marred by reports of widespread looting and vandalism.

An epidemic of shootings

The violence of the first two nights of protests prompted the governor of North Carolina, Pat McCrory, to declare a state of emergency, while Roberts imposed a curfew. However, police allowed protests to carry on past midnight on Friday.

Scott was the 214th black person to be killed by police in the US in 2016. According to the organization Mapping Police Violence, police have killed 821 people this year.

Police contend that Scott had a gun when he was shot, which his family denies. The authorities have drawn criticism for refusing to release bodycam and dashboard footage of the incident. However, they did show it to Scott's family.

"There's nothing in that video that shows him acting aggressively, threatening or maybe dangerous," said a lawyer for the family.

ls,blc/kl (AP, AFP, Reuters)