Charlotte protester: 'I've been walking the streets for seven hours but I'm not going home'

"I've had a long day protesting. I've been out on the roads for about seven hours."

It was 2am in Charlotte when Newsbeat caught up with Gary Burney.

He'd walked all day with the crunch of glass underfoot and tear gas swirling in the air.

"I've been walking, running, yelling and walking some more.

"I was here yesterday too and I'm going to keep doing this," he tells us.

A protester comes toe-to-toe with a police officer in Charlotte overnight

A state of emergency has been declared in Charlotte after 48 hours of unrest.

Gary and hundreds of others took to the streets after Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was shot dead by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Brentley Vinson.

"There's definitely been violence involved in the protests and I can understand why, but for the most part it's been peaceful."

But Gary feels peaceful protesters, like him, are being ignored by the media: "The news in my city seems like a smorgasbord board of lies right now."

In recent years cities across the US have become familiar with Black Lives Matter protesters who have moved in following similar deaths.

Gary Burney insists the movement in Charlotte is different: "Black Lives Matter had nothing to do with this. I don't know if Black Lives Matter has put out a statement but this is Charlotte representing Charlotte.

"People from Charlotte - 'Charlotteans' as they would call us - we are very strong people and we're showing that now."

He believes that killing young African Americans has become "a trend".

"What we're showing here in Charlotte is that it's not going to happen here, not on our doorstep, we're not going to accept it."

Demonstrators have been demanding the officer who shot Keith Lamont Scott is brought to justice.

"What's sad is we're about to witness racism within racism."

He's afraid that because the officer was black himself he'll be prosecuted "to the fullest extent although there are many Caucasian officers who have not been prosecuted in this way."

People in Charlotte woke up to a different city this morning - shards of glass decorated the pavements and paint stained windows.

Many shops have been looted.

"I don't agree with [the looting] at all. But the problem still lies with the police and the lack of justice being served.

"Violence is not the answer but we [peaceful protestors] can see why some people have turned to violence."

"If [policing] was done properly in the first place, we wouldn't have these problems and that's just the truth," he added.

Follow the latest developments from Charlotte here.

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