The US attorney general has warned against escalating violence in North Carolina, as politicians reacted cautiously to the second night of protests against the fatal police shooting of black man in Charlotte.
“Violence often only begets violence,” said Loretta Lynch, who is from North Carolina and has led the White House response to a string of such killings, as she acknowledged the grievances of demonstrators but called for calm on both sides.
“I know these are difficult times and the events of recent days are painfully unclear and call out for answers but the answer will not be found in the violence of recent days,” said the attorney general in a statement in Washington.
“Most of the demonstrators gathered last night were exercising their constitutional right to peaceful protest – we need your voice, we need your passion, we need your commitment,” she added. “I urge those responsible for bringing violence to these demonstrations to stop, because you are drowning out the voices of commitment and change and you are ushering in more tragedy and grief in our communities.”
The Department of Justice is sending four members of its community relations service to Charlotte and offering “crowd mediation” services to local police but has so far not stepped further than to say it is “monitoring” the initial shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott.
But Lynch made clear she that she viewed this and the killing of an apparently unarmed driver in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as potentially linked.
“The tragic events in Charlotte and Oklahoma earlier this week once again underscore the divisions that persist between law enforcement officers and the communities that we serve, particularly communities of colour,” said Lynch.
“We have come together with thoughts and prayers far too many times for a victim of violence. Too many times we have allowed ourselves to be pulled down the easy path of blame and accusation rather than the harder path of empathy and understanding.”
The DoJ response follows a muted reaction from the presidential candidates, caught between expressing sympathy for the families of those killed by police, but not wishing to be seen as taking more overt stances against law enforcement.
Earlier, Donald Trump said the country “desperately needs unity and the spirit of togetherness”, though he stood by controversial calls for more use of “stop and frisk” tactics by police.
He also acknowledged the right to peaceful protest but said “there is no right to engage in violent disruption or to threaten the peace and safety of others.”
“The people who will suffer the most as a result of these riots are law-abiding African American residents who live in these communities where crime is so rampant,” he added.
Hillary Clinton was at her home in New York preparing for Monday’s televised presidential debate, but has also tried to appeal to both sides in a politically fraught situation.
“There is still much we don’t know about what happened in both incidents. But we do know that we have two more names to add to a list of African Americans killed by police officers in these encounters. It’s unbearable. And it needs to become intolerable,” she said in a speech on Florida on Wednesday. “We also saw the targeting of police officers in Philadelphia last week. And last night in Charlotte, 12 officers were injured in demonstrations following Keith Lamont Scott’s death. Every day, police officers across our country are serving with extraordinary courage, honor and skill.”
“We saw that again this weekend in New York and New Jersey and Minnesota,” she added. “Our police handled those terrorist attacks exactly right. And they likely saved a lot of lives. I’ve spoken to many police chiefs and other law enforcement leaders who are as deeply concerned as I am and deeply committed, as I am, to reform. Why? Because they know it is essential for the safety of our communities and our officers. We are safer when communities respect the police and police respect communities.”
The campaign did not respond to further requests for comment on Thursday.
The White House sought to remain even handed in voicing support for both protesters and police. Barack Obama received an update from Pat McCrory, the governor of North Carolina, on Thursday afternoon and offered his condolences for the loss of life, press secretary Josh Earnest said.
“The president has also articulated his administration’s support for communities that are grappling with these difficult questions,” Earnest told reporters. “The president believes strongly in the right of individuals to publicly protest, to voice their concerns in public. Those rights are protected in the United States constitution.”
Law enforcement officials have an important duty to protect those rights, he said.
“It’s also important that people don’t use a public protest as an excuse to engage in violence or to engage in vandalism. There’s no excuse for that.”
Violence distracts from issues that deserve full public scrutiny, Earnest said.
Asked about Obama’s response to repeated flare-ups over policing and racial discrimination, Earnest told a press briefing: “The president has, unfortunately, had numerous opportunities to address this topic, not just over the last couple of years but over the summer. What’s clear is that there is important work to be done in communities all across the country to build trust and strengthen relationships between individual law enforcement agencies and the communities they’re sworn to serve and protect.”
Obama has made this work a priority, Earnest added. “This is a particularly complex set of issues, in part because we know the vast majority of men and women who work in law enforcement are genuine public servants who work to keep their communities safe.
“What’s also true is that there are legitimate concerns that have been raised about inequities in our criminal justice system, inequities that break down in many cases along racial lines, and those are difficult questions that must be confronted. They cannot be ignored.”
He said Obama had spoken publicly about such issues on numerous occasions and convened a 21st century policing taskforce to offer suggestions for law enforcement agencies across the country to build trust. The federal government has shared “best practices”, helping some communities to make important progress, and would welcome additional resources from Congress.
Asked about Donald Trump’s proposal to increase stop-and-frisk, Earnest replied: “I’m not going to respond to comments by a Republican nominee on the campaign trail.”
Referring to the police taskforce, he added: “Expanding and doubling down on stop-and-frisk policies is not among the suggestions, for rather obvious reasons.”
The press secretary also denied that Obama could have done more to address the persistent tensions across the country. “The president has spoken more about these issues all across the country over the last couple of years than any other public official that comes to my mind. Part of that is because he’s got a responsibility as president of the United States, part of that is because of his strongly held personal views on that topic, part of that is the president’s strong commitment to doing something about it ... I’m confident you’ve not heard from him on this topic for the last time.”
