Friday March 29th, 2024 10:12AM

White County man finds himself in the middle of Charlotte protests

A White County man unexpectedly found himself at the epicenter of the latest bout of civil unrest Wednesday night.

Gilbert Barrett, President and CEO of the White County Farmers Market Exchange, was in Charlotte for a business meeting that just so happened to be during the height of the protests following yet another police shooting of a black man. Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was killed by police Tuesday afternoon outside of an apartment complex in Charlotte.

According to Barrett, there was a lot of uneasiness going on in the city as he and his colleagues walked back to their room at the Omni Hotel uptown on Wednesday before going out to dinner.

As Barrett’s dinner progressed, so too did the intensity of the protests.

“After leaving the restaurant, we started hearing some explosions,” Barrett said. “And actually it was the tear gas going off.

“The crowd had gotten pretty intense at that point in time.”

It was so intense that Barrett had their driver come pick them up from the restaurant even though their hotel was only three blocks away. It was all for naught, however, as Barrett found the Omni Hotel uptown on lockdown upon his return.

“Our hotel had been shut down. The shooting had happened right in front of our hotel.”

The shooting victim that Barrett speaks of has not been identified. He was shot by another civilian and was last reported to be in critical condition and on life support at a local hospital.

Barrett and his colleagues found another hotel for the night before making it back inside the Omni the next morning around 8 a.m. The meeting that was supposed to last until 2 p.m. today was closed down at around 10 a.m. as most of the other businesses in that area were closed as well.

Despite the fact that multiple officers and civilians have reportedly been hurt during these protests, Barrett says that for the most part, everything that he has witnessed has been peaceful, not violent.

“Things were very peaceful all day yesterday,” Barrett said. “I actually, on my way back to the hotel, passed by some of the demonstrators that were having a peaceful demonstration, but then of course everything got pretty rowdy. 

“A lot of uneasiness going on, but I think everything was handled well and you could see the National Guard was moving in this morning when we were getting ready to leave.”

  • Associated Categories: Homepage, Local/State News
  • Associated Tags: police shootings, white county, north carolina, protests
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