The mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, publicly asked Friday that the two leading presidential candidates delay plans to visit her city, which has been rocked this week by unrest following a police shooting of a black man.
“We appreciate the support of the candidates. We appreciate that they are concerned about Charlotte,” Jennifer Roberts told CNN’s Erin Burnett on “OutFront.” “At this point, we do have very stretched resources for security and they are working around the clock. If there would be a way to delay those 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.”
Messages left with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s campaigns seeking response were not immediately returned.
The shooting of Keith Lamont Scott has sparked protests in Charlotte and is the latest incident to fuel a national discussion about lethal police force, particularly against African-Americans.
Clinton’s campaign announced earlier Friday that she would travel to Charlotte on Sunday. And Trump is considering a trip to Charlotte next week after Monday’s debate, two aides told CNN Thursday. Campaign officials were looking at the logistics involved in such a trip.
Clinton also called Friday for officials in Charlotte, North Carolina, to make public a police video showing the fatal shooting of Scott.
“Charlotte should release police video of the Keith Lamont Scott shooting without delay. We must ensure justice & work to bridge divides. –H,” Clinton said in a tweet, the “H” indicating that she personally approved the message.
Two police videos from a dashboard camera and an officer’s body camera show how Scott died, but have not been released to the public. Police allowed Scott’s family to view the videos Wednesday.