http://66.225.205.104/JR20110602.mp3
Frustrated Charlotte officials held a press conference today attempting to change the public's view of Uptown violence that resulted in 76 arrests and one shooting death over the weekend. Police have issued an arrest warrant for a suspect in the homicide. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe says the media is wrong to describe what happened Saturday night as a "melee" or "riot." Yes, there were dozens of arrests in the hours after Speed Street ended. And yes, one young man died. But there were not groups of 20 or 30 people fighting other big groups. Monroe says most of the trouble was shoving and shouting and general "disorderly conduct." "So, all the things that are associated with 'melee' or 'riot,' it just doesn't equate on the other side when you talk about arrests, injuries, property damage and that sort of thing," said Monroe at a press conference with Mayor Anthony Foxx and CATS CEO Carolyn Flowers. "I think we need to be careful in not trying to instill unnecessary fear in the public." Police say the shooting death of a young man near 3rd Street and College Street around 1:30 a.m. Sunday was a result of weeks-old dispute. The homicide was preceded by several hours of unruly behavior in the four blocks around the Transit Center Uptown. Word had gone out for teenagers from across the city to rendezvous there on Saturday night. Police say thousands of kids ages 10 to 25 showed up. A city report describes a confrontation between police and a small crowd outside the Ritz Carlton Hotel where officers broke up a fight and used a TASER to subdue one suspect. Representatives of the Ritz Carlton and the Hilton Center City near the shooting site refused to comment on the city's handling of the incident. At his press conference, Mayor Anthony Foxx tried to put the incident in perspective. He called it "serious" and compared such youth violence to a "cancer in the community." "But what I think we've got to be careful not to do is allow those concerns to magnify themselves to a point where people lose a sense of reality," said Foxx. Foxx says the Center City is safe overall and notes that Charlotte's crime rate is at a 30 year low. CMPD Chief Monroe says police are working on a plan to handle large crowds expected Uptown for July 4th. He also says police had a plan for last weekend and maintains "our plan worked."