Live updates: Protests in Charlotte have remained mostly calm

We’re keeping track of the most up-to-date news about local protests over the death of George Floyd, a black Minneapolis man who died while being detained by police. Protests have continued in Charlotte, Raleigh and across the country.

Observer reporters Alex Andrejev and Amanda Zhou are on the ground in Uptown on Wednesday night covering the protests.

Refresh this page for the latest updates.

12:18 a.m.

According to CMPD, a male was was shot at 10 p.m. on Augusta Street.

“A short time later, officers attempted to stop a possible suspect vehicle. The vehicle failed to stop and a pursuit ensued. The pursuit traveled through Uptown before the suspect was detained on Trade St. near N. Davidson St.,” CMPD said on Twitter.

There has been no indication that the shooting was related to protests. Augusta Street is located near West Charlotte High School and away from uptown, where the majority of protests have been held.

12:10 a.m.

As the crowd gradually gets smaller, protests have remain mostly calm. We’ve witnessed a few water bottles thrown from the crowd, but nothing in mass.

11:27 p.m.

Police officers are pushing a crowd back near 3rd Street and Interstate 277 after a protester threw fireworks at them. Officers responded by using a chemical agent to first get the crowd to back up, and now are slowly walking in a line down the street.

10:54 p.m.

Outside the transportation center in Uptown, protests have remained peaceful as about 200 people gather. There has not been a heavy presence of officers in riot gear.

“Police in riot gear turn the heat up,” ACLU organizer Kristie Puckett Williams said regarding the decreased police presence tonight.

10:15 p.m.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers were escorting protesters to “ensure safe and peaceful demonstration,” the department tweeted.

A large group of protesters was marching on 3rd Street in uptown, CMPD said.

10 p.m.

9:59 p.m.

All reports so far are that protests, while heated, have remained non-violent in Uptown Charlotte. Our reporters are currently in Romare Bearden Park, where protesters are taking turns making speeches to the crowd. We have not witnessed CMPD in full tactical gear.

9:22 p.m.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney will “immediately petition the courts for release of videos” showing officers using chemical agents against peaceful protesters in uptown Tuesday, the department tweeted. But that’s pending the conclusion of the State Bureau of Investigation’s review of the incident, CMPD said.

Earlier Wednesday, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said the review “would take some time.”

“What we want to do is get it right,” Lyles had told reporters. “It doesn’t mean to get it fast.”

9:05 p.m.

Many Charlotte clergy members said they “feel betrayed” by police tactics used against protesters on Tuesday.

“On the evening of June 2, around 9:15 p.m., a clergy member was corralled with a group marching peacefully and sprayed with an irritant that left him coughing, choked and with sunburned-like places on the little bit of skin that was exposed,” clergy members wrote in a letter Wednesday evening to Mayor Vi Lyles, City Manager Marcus Jones, City Council members and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney.

“While we understand that the evening protest groups include a range of elements, and while we understand that everyone’s safety is paramount, we are deeply disappointed over what we view to be highly-militarized and unnecessary uses of force in light of our conversations with the Mayor and City Manager,” the letter says, referring to a meeting Lyles had convened on Saturday with some clergy members.

Clergy members said city officials must do more than bring in State Bureau of Investigation to review Tuesday’s incident. They urged city officials to denounce CMPD’s behavior Tuesday, as well as the use of tear gas and “kettling as a tactic against peaceful protesters.”

9 p.m.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Captain Brad Koch is walking up front with a group of protesters. Reporter Alex Andrejev asked him why he is doing so. His response: “To make sure that we can peacefully facilitate the protest through the city of Charlotte.”

He’s also radioing to officers on the route to close roads to traffic.

8:36 p.m.

A large crowd has gathered at the intersection of 5th and College and is chanting “Black lives matter!” Protests have remained non-violent.

8:23 p.m.

Sun is starting to set in Charlotte. Crowds at the moment do not appear as dense as they were last night. People are marching in various places around Uptown, including along East Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

7:46 p.m.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney took questions from the crowd outside of headquarters in uptown. He was asked directly if protesters would be tear-gassed. He responded: “Absolutely not, if there is no violence.”

7:06 p.m.

The mayor’s town hall meeting has moved from the Government Center to a march down Trade Street outside of CMPD headquarters and back to the Government Center in Uptown. The mayor and city council members were part of the march.

Meanwhile in Cornelius, a peaceful protest just wrapped up, reporter David Scott said. The protest was organized by students at Hough High School. More on that story to come.

6:11 p.m.: CMPD press conference

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said that until the video of officers appearing to trap protesters Tuesday night went viral, morale of the department was at an all-time high. He said reports that a dispersal order was not issued before flash bangs and pepper balls were thrown on the group are false and that the investigation will show that.

“We need the public to cooperate with us and stay within the boundaries of the law,” Putney said. “ ... I know the overwhelming majority of people came to protest lawfully.

“Have your voice heard, express your pain, but do so lawfully.”

6 p.m.: Town hall meeting hosted by Mayor Vi Lyles

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles is holding a town hall meeting from 6-8 p.m. at the Government Center.

The town hall, announced by Lyles late Wednesday afternoon, comes after a tense night of protests Uptown Tuesday evening. In footage captured by alternative news outlet Queen City Nerve, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers appear to have deployed chemical agents against people who were peacefully gathered on 4th and College streets.

We’ll have more updates as they come.

4:30 p.m.: City of Charlotte press conference

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles sharply criticized the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Wednesday after police used chemical agents against a largely peaceful crowd of protesters Tuesday. And the city is bringing in the State Bureau of Investigation to review those police actions

Lyles, speaking at a Wednesday afternoon news conference, said, “Last night was one of those times that none of us can be proud of — that none of us would want to see happen in our city.

“But it did. And I hope everyone is aware that that’s not the kind of department we want to have for policing. It’s not the kind of reputation that we want to have nationally or locally.

“So when you look at that, we have to understand we can be better than that.”

Lyles said the city will review the use of chemical agents, but did not say how long that would take. She also didn’t say what chemical agent was used on protesters.

“What we want to do is get it right,” she said. “It doesn’t mean get it fast. It means to get it right.”

CMPD methods blasted

Charlotte City Council Member Braxton Winston, who has been among those arrested at a protest, is demanding CMPD stop using chemical agents to disperse demonstrators in uptown Charlotte.

Winston made the demand while sharing a Queen City Nerve alternative newspaper video on Twitter of CMPD officers firing chemical agents from both ends of the block Tuesday night. “The deployment of chemical agents in Charlotte needs to end tonight,” Winston tweeted.

City Council member Dimple Ajmera tweeted that City Manager Marcus Jones was going to investigate.

At the scene around North Tryon and 4th Streets, police said in a tweet, “After being assaulted with bottles, rocks, and chemical agents multiple dispersal orders were given. Officers gave protesters multiple avenues to leave the area. After refusal to leave, chemical agents were deployed to protect officers and the public.”

CMPD announced it is also investigating the matter. “We are internally reviewing the circumstances that developed this evening on 4th Street to ensure policy and protocol were followed,” the department tweeted.

State Rep. Chaz Beasley, who represents District 92, said he was “absolutely furious with CMPD” after seeing the video and accused officers of “firing upon peaceful protesters with tear gas, flash bangs, and pepper balls from three sides.”

“I have already spoken to multiple members of the Mecklenburg legislative delegation about this and what steps to take next,” he tweeted. “We have a responsibility to protect the constitutional rights of our citizens.”

Fifth night of protests

That incident happened as uptown Charlotte saw another night of demonstrators confront police, including one protester arrested for having an AR rifle and two 30-round magazines of ammo, CMPD said.

Protesters threw exploding fireworks, bottles and debris at police, and one bike patrol officer was hurt when hit in the face with a “chemical agent,” CMPD said in a series of tweets. The injuries were not serious.

The Charlotte Area Transit Authority announced late Tuesday it closed the uptown Transit Center “due to civil demonstrations” and LYNX trains were instructed not to stop at the CTC station on East Trade Street.

Meanwhile, Charlotte’s NAACP staged a peaceful protest attended by several thousand people earlier in the day outside the Government Center in uptown Charlotte.

Mostly locals arrested

Speculation has circulated on social media that many of the violent demonstrators were outsiders, including members of right-wing groups seeking to disrupt protests with acts of violence.

But CMPD said in a tweet late Tuesday that to date, more than 70 of the 97 arrested are from the Charlotte area. Among the 97 have been multiple teens, one as young as 15, CMPD said.

Criticism of the violence has continued to build around the country in recent days, as civil rights activists suggest it is distracting from their call for fair treatment of African-Americans by the criminal justice system.

Protests spread to suburbs

Protests were planned for the Charlotte suburbs Wednesday and Thursday.

In Cornelius, a protest was set for Wednesday at 4 p.m. in front of the police department, Cornelius Today reported. It said about two dozen people had peacefully protested in Davidson on Tuesday.

And the town of Waxhaw in Union County is aware of a planned peaceful protest for Thursday at 5 p.m. in the downtown area, Manager Jeffrey Wells told the Observer in an email.

There was no immediate word of when or where protests may start in Charlotte Wednesday.

Observer staff writer Adam Bell contributed

This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 7:23 AM with the headline "Live updates: Protests in Charlotte have remained mostly calm."