Mayor Jennifer Roberts asked Hillary Clinton to push back her upcoming trip to Charlotte hours after the Democratic nominee announced she would visit in an attempt to reach out Black Lives Matter protesters and the law enforcement community.
“What I want to say is that we appreciate the support of candidates, we appreciate that they are concerned about Charlotte,” Roberts told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Friday. “At this point we do have very stressed resources for security. And they are working, you know, around the clock. If there would be a way to delay those visits in terms of giving us a chance to get our city back to order and back to more of a state of normalcy, that would probably be ideal.”
“We really appreciate their support. We appreciate the nation’s support,” she continued. “Our hearts are heavy here today with what’s going on. And again, we hope that they could figure out a way to come a little bit later.”
The Clinton campaign later responded to Roberts’ recommendation Friday evening, saying Clinton would postpone her planned visit Sunday to the Queen City to the following Sunday “provided circumstances allow.”
.@HillaryClinton now postponing her Sunday trip to Charlotte pic.twitter.com/Ywz2xtir60
— Alex Romano (@alexromano) September 24, 2016
Earlier Friday, Clinton called on Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officials to release department video of the fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, which sparked the protests.
“Charlotte should release police video of the Keith Lamont Scott shooting without delay. We must ensure justice & work to bridge divides. -H,” Clinton tweeted from her personal account. The “H” indicates she wrote the message, not her staff.
Clinton is scheduled to debate Republican nominee Donald Trump in New York Monday evening. Trump has not passed through Charlotte since the incident on Tuesday, but both have addressed racial issues related to the police on the campaign trail this past week.
