NAACP Charlotte Pres.: It Really Doesn’t Matter if Keith Scott Had a Gun

The head of Charlotte's NAACP branch, Rev. Corine Mack, says it doesn't matter if Keith Lamont Scott -- whose killing has setoff a wave of violent protests and riots -- brandished a gun before being shot, as police allege.

Mack's comments largely echo those of Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who said "no matter what the video shows," the problem is the same -- "in too many communities there is a clear sense that there is a bias, a racial bias, against African-Americans."

"At the end of the day, you know, a video may show a different perspective depending on the angle," Mack told CNN Thursday morning. "And so it will have many different angles. You may not get the full picture."

"I think the most important part is the contrast in him having a book versus a gun," she continued. "But in my mind and most of the community’s mind, it really doesn’t matter if he had a gun. At the end of the day we have the right under the Second Amendment to carry here in North Carolina."

The NAACP boss said it was incumbent on the police to respond more peacefully. "Their responsibility was to engage him in a more de-escalated way. To find out if he had a permit for his gun and allow him to go on his merry way and he would still be living today. That’s not what happened."

"So I don’t want anyone to walk away from this conversation today thinking that a video showing he had a gun in any way says that he was guilty of anything," she said.