Deferring to public pressure, Charlotte police release footage of Keith Scott's death. The video shows a one-sided scene, as Scott is only visible for a split second before crumpling to the ground. He may have had an ankle holster on, but no gun is clearly visible, and his arms never leave his sides.  

Video may be the only thing that will sate a public hungry for answers, but according to Charlotte's police chief it doesn't contain any definitive answers as to whether Keith Lamont Scott was holding a book or a gun.

Earlier this year Governor McCrory signed a controversial law banning police from releasing police footage except under orders from a judge, which the ACLU called "shameful." 

That said, "when black death goes viral, it can trigger PTSD-like trauma," according to mental health researchers. PTSD is more common in African-Americans than in other ethnicities even though they are less likely to have other anxiety disorders. 

North Carolina governor Pat McCrory—formerly mayor of Charlotte—declared a state of emergency in North Carolina on Thursday following the previous day's protests. The state of emergency authorizes the governor to deploy National Guard troops to put down riot, rebellion, protest, or uprising.

A state of emergency is, according to social theorist Giorgio Agamben, an excuse the state uses to suspend constitutional rights and extend its power—for example, the establishment of extralegal detention at Guantanamo Bay following 9/11. These ideas are also familiar to fans of pop-leftist Naomi Klein as the "shock doctrine," which uses emergency as an excuse to neoliberalize areas following disasters like Hurricane Katrina. 

Contrary to the author's recollection, what "state of emergency" is not is the title of the excellent Bjork song that prominently features those words as lyrics; that song is properly titled "Joga." 

Violence struck twice in Charlotte this week: On Monday, a policeman shot and killed a middle-aged black man, Keith Lamont Scott, who may have been armed, while serving a warrant for someone totally different. On Tuesday, after rioting led to highway bonfires and smashed cars, a "civilian-on-civilian" altercation in the crowd left another man in critical condition (he died yesterday afternoon).

The division of North Carolina's communities is real: none of North Carolina's electoral districts are expected to be competitive, thanks to gerrymandering. Even the schools are practically segregated.