CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ Many regular daytime activities resumed in uptown Charlotte Friday after a citywide curfew ended at 6 a.m. following unrest after Tuesday's fatal police shooting of a black man.
After two nights of violence in the streets Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday's protests were largely peaceful. The main exception was when protesters confronted police after marchers briefly blocked Interstate 277.
On Wednesday night, a 26-year-old man was fatally shot on East Trade Street; and police have not said whether they believe the shooting was random or if they have a suspect.
At around 5 a.m. Friday, the state troopers who had guarded the EpiCentre � the site of violent protests and damage overnight Wednesday � were gone, replaced with only the normal security guards.
Police presence was limited. Two Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers pulled over in a SUV on Tryon Street to give a homeless person some food.
Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency in the city Wednesday, and several hundred members of the National Guard and State Highway Patrol were sent to Charlotte. Guardsman, who patrolled near Trade and Tryon streets Thursday evening, were gone from uptown early Friday.
Some semblance of normalcy was expected to return to uptown Charlotte Friday. Wells Fargo told its employees to report to work as usual Friday, the day after telling them to work from home. But Bank of America told its employees to work from home again Friday.
Meanwhile, the city of Charlotte said it is investigating why its website went down for a period of time Wednesday night, spokesman Ken Brown said. He also said the city is looking into a claim that the website was hacked and that city and police employee data was compromised.
Also Friday, President Barack Obama commented on what was happening in Charlotte. He told "Good Morning America" that "looting, breaking glass, are not going to advance the cause. In Charlotte, my hope is people in the community pull together and do things the right way."
The president also acknowledged the sense of frustration a lot of African-Americans have about police shootings, and the belief that justice is not always color-blind.
And pressure continued to mount on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department to publicly release video of the fatal encounter. Scott's family, who has seen it, wants it to be made public.
The latest push came Friday, as a New York Times editorial demanded its release, stating, "Keeping the public in the dark heightens tension and undermines trust in law enforcement."
Police Chief Kerr Putney said the videos would not be released because, among other reasons, it might infringe upon a parallel State Bureau of Investigation probe into the shooting.
The turmoil that thrust the city into an unconformable national spotlight began Tuesday afternoon in a northeast Charlotte apartment complex. Police were there to serve a warrant on a man. That's when they encountered Keith Lamont Scott in his car.
What happened next is in dispute. Police said Scott got out of the car with a handgun that they ordered him to drop, and was shot seconds later after police believed he posed an imminent deadly threat, police said.
But Scott's family, who was allowed to watch police videos of the shooting, said Thursday he was killed while walking backward, hands at his side.
Scott was killed by Officer Brentley Vinson, who, like Scott, also is black.
Helmeted N.C. National Guard soldiers, including MPs, took up positions throughout uptown Thursday with armored Humvees after darkness fell. Authorities said Guardsmen were brought in to protect against damage to buildings and property, freeing police to concentrate on anyone engaging in violence.
Early in the evening, veteran protesters held a tactical training seminar for demonstrators at Romare Bearden Park. First tip given: Don't panic, run or shove.
Meanwhile, national activists who also led protests in Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore and Baton Rouge, La., flew into Charlotte on Thursday.
And local civil rights activists and clergy said they're working to demand answers, encourage nonviolence and set the stage for long, difficult work to dismantle systemic racism. Local leaders, some of whom put themselves between police and protesters during Wednesday night's bloody encounter, said their calls for peace should not be confused with a request that an angry community "calm down."
As darkness fell, faith leaders gathered near the Epicenter praying for peace and for Scott's family. Police were low-key in their response as long as the protests remained calm.
Officers on bikes used the tactics practiced during demonstrations during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte in 2012, clearing the way and blocking traffic on side streets on Trade Street as protesters moved along chanting "No Justice, No Peace," "Black Lives Matter" and "Who's Streets? Our Streets!"
One part of the crowd taunted police at Trade Street, while another group nearby shouted, "Get the media out of here."
Shortly before 10 p.m., the city announced the curfew that runs from midnight until 6 a.m. until the end of the state of emergency. But the curfew could be lifted before the state of emergency ends if the mayor revokes the proclamation.
About 10:30 p.m., protesters passed Bank of America Stadium and began climbing up to Interstate 277.
Police blocked traffic on the highway, then a phalanx of officers in riot gear moved in to drive demonstrators off the highway.
Someone hurled a bottle in the direction of the police line and officers responded with tear gas, and demonstrators withdrew.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police tweeted after midnight that two officers were treated by Medic after being sprayed with a chemical agent by demonstrators.
Also Thursday, the videos of the shooting delivered a split narrative.
At a news conference, Putney said he reviewed the videos and they do not "give me absolute, definitive visual evidence that will confirm a person was pointing a gun. I did not see that in the video."
Putney said, however, the "totality" of the evidence supports the police conclusion that officers confronting Scott faced an imminent, deadly threat.
But "after watching the videos," said Justin Bamberg, an attorney for Scott's relatives, "the family again has more questions than answers."
Bamberg said the videos, from dashboard and body cameras worn by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers, showed Scott getting out of his vehicle when ordered to by officers.
Scott's demeanor was calm and non-aggressive, said Bamberg, who called upon CMPD to release the videos publicly in the name of transparency.
"While police did give him several commands," the attorney said, "he did not aggressively approach them or raise his hands at members of law enforcement at any time."
State Bureau of Investigation agents, at the request of Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray, began an independent inquiry into the shooting Tuesday of Keith Lamont Scott.
Murray acted after Scott's family requested the probe � under state law, he is required to ask the SBI to investigate after a request from the family of a person killed with a firearm by an on-duty officer.
(Staff writers Mark Price Gavin Off, Katherine Peralta, Jim Morrill, Joe Marusak, Ann Doss Helms, Mark Washburn and Ronnie Glassberg contributed.)
