• Keith Scott in San Antonio in 2004 Photo: /
Photo: /
IMAGE 53OF 63
A protestor holds a sign showing a book and a gun on Old Concord Rd. on Tuesday night, Sept. 20, 2016 in Charlotte, N.C. A protest began on Old Concord Road at Bonnie Lane, where a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer fatally shot a man in the parking lot of The Village at College Downs apartment complex Tuesday afternoon. The man who died was identified late Tuesday as Keith Scott, 43 and the officer who fired the fatal shot was CMPD Officer Brentley Vinson. Earlier a woman who said she is Scott's daughter claimed on a live-streamed video on Facebook that Scott was unarmed when he was shot. In the video, the woman said her father was sitting in his car reading a book and waiting for the school bus to drop off his son. She claimed that her father was tasered and then shot four times, and that he was disabled. (Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer/TNS)
IMAGE 1 OF 63
Keith Scott in San Antonio in 2004
Keith Lamont Scott, the man whose fatal shooting by Charlotte, North Carolina police this week sparked unrest in that city and protests nationwide, told a state district judge in Bexar County in 2005 that his family had “suffered from a tremendous amount of racism and hate crimes,” court documents say.
Scott made the statement in a motion that unsuccessfully argued for a reduction to his seven-year sentence for aggravated assault, a second-degree felony to which he had pleaded no contest under an agreement with prosecutors that reduced the charge stemming from the Sept. 17, 2002 incident from a first-degree felony.
In his sentencing, Scott told the judge he fired 10 shots at Anthony Trinidad, an acquaintance he said had threatened him and whom he feared was a thief, in self-defense. The available court records do not provide a full account of the shooting.
Video recorded by Keith Lamont Scott’s wife and provided by her attorney shows her repeatedly telling officers her husband is not armed and pleading with them not to shoot him. Warning: Graphic content. (Sept. 23)
Media: associatedpress
Scott also was charged with evading arrest two days after the shooting incident. He pleaded no contest to that charge on Feb 4, 2005 and was sentenced to 15 months in jail. He was convicted of aggravated assault on July 19, 2005.
Scott served most of his prison term and was released on April 1, 2011.
Scott, 43, was killed Tuesday. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said officers were attempting to serve another person with an outstanding warrant when Scott emerged from his car with a handgun and did not comply with commands.
Scott's family denied Scott owned or had a gun at the time. Family members were allowed to view videos taken from police dashboard and body cameras, but police have not released videos to the public as of Friday afternoon. The family's attorney told the Charlotte Observer they have “more questions than answers.”