'The true battlefield is within the human heart ... Storm and loot your hearts, not the streets, if you want true change for the good'
'The true battlefield is within the human heart ... Storm and loot your hearts, not the streets, if you want true change for the good'CHARLOTTE — After two nights of violence in Charlotte, Bishop Peter J. Jugis called on “the half-million Catholic men, women and children of the Diocese of Charlotte” to join him in prayers for “peace and justice” for all victims of violence and for law enforcement personnel who have been victims of “unjust violence.”
“Let us pray for all men and women of good will to be instruments of harmony and the always-shining light of Christ in our neighborhoods, workplaces, schools and public places,” Bishop Jugis said in a statement Sept. 22.
The protests began late Sept. 20 following the fatal police shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott, an African-American, outside an apartment complex on Old Concord Road. In their statement, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said Officer Brentley Vinson, who also is an African-American, perceived an “imminent deadly threat” and shot Scott. Scott later died at a local hospital.
Family members insisted that Scott was unarmed and was reading a book while waiting in the parking lot to pick up his son from a nearby school bus stop. Police said they recovered a weapon from the scene, not a book.
Vinson has been placed on administrative leave while police conduct an investigation that includes eyewitness interviews and review of police video footage.
When Scott family members took to social media to criticize police the evening of Sept. 20, people began to gather at the site of the shooting. By 11 p.m., the protest had swelled to about 1,000 people.
When some protesters began throwing rocks and smashing the windows of several police cars, police used tear gas to disperse the crowd, but people continued to protest and block roadways. Police arrested one person. More than a dozen police officers were slightly injured in the melee.
At St. Thomas Aquinas Church, just a few blocks from the scene of the police shooting and the first day of protests, about 150 people gathered to pray for peace Sept. 21.
During Wednesday evening Eucharistic Adoration and benediction, Father Patrick Winslow, pastor, offered prayers for police and for people who have suffered injustice, as well as prayers for his neighborhood and the city of Charlotte.
“Last evening we were all taken by surprise when two events collided here in Charlotte – you could even say, in our own backyard,” Father Winslow said. “One, the national ongoing concern about racism in law enforcement and, two, the incident of an African-American man who lost his life in an altercation with local police.”
“In times such as these, it is good to recall that light shines in the darkness, and it must shine through you,” Father Winslow urged parishioners. “Knowing the genuine spirit of our parishioners, I am confident that you will embrace a path of peace, prayer and charity.”
Referring to the Gospel according to St. John, Father Winslow said, “Retrospectively reflecting upon the events of Christ’s cross, His death and resurrection, he observes that the ‘light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.’
“This bold declaration refers to the triumph of the cross of Christ where the friction of human injustice set ablaze the Light of God in an otherwise dark world.”
“Since then,” Father Winslow continued, “history has made it clear that the true battlefield upon which the light vanquishes that darkness is not between nations, it is not between races, nor is it in the streets of Charlotte or any U.S. city.
“The true battlefield is within the human heart – within each of us. This is where injustice must be defeated. This is where prejudice and unjust discrimination live. This is the place from which fear and darkness enter the world. And likewise, it is the place where it can be vanquished.”
“I beg you, storm and loot your hearts, not the streets, if you want true change for the good,” he said. “Vanquish the enemy within and then you will truly help your neighbor.”
Protests turned violent for a second night Sept. 21 in uptown Charlotte, about 10 miles away from the site of the fatal police shooting.
Protester Justin Carr was shot and later died, several other people were injured, and a few businesses vandalized and looted. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police again used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
State leaders declared a state of emergency Sept. 21, triggering the North Carolina National Guard and the State Highway Patrol to assist local law enforcement in responding to the violence, and city leaders put in place a midnight curfew that was not lifted until Sept. 25.
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor
Pictured at top: Father Patrick Winslow, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Church, leads benediction during a prayer service Sept. 21, following a night of protests in the Charlotte parish's neighborhood that were sparked by a fatal police shooting.
Statement from The Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis, Bishop of Charlotte
After two nights of violence in the city of Charlotte I call upon the half-million Catholic men, women and children of the Diocese of Charlotte to join me in prayer.
Let us pray for peace and for justice, not only for the victims of violence in Charlotte, but for all of the victims throughout our country.
Let us pray for the members of our law enforcement organizations who have been victims of unjust violence.
Let us pray for all men and women of good will to be instruments of harmony and the always-shining light of Christ in our neighborhoods, work places, schools and public spaces.
Sisters of Mercy speak out against Charlotte violence
BELMONT — The Sisters of Mercy - South Central Community also spoke out against the violence in Charlotte Sept. 21, issuing a statement calling for everyone to follow the Golden Rule.
“We invite everyone to join us in praying for a world that is merciful, loving and without violence and inequities,” said Mercy Sister Jane Hotstream, president of the community of sisters located just west of Charlotte. “It is time for each of us to examine our hearts deeply and to find our way to treating all our neighbors as we wish to be treated.”
“Our hearts are broken by the violence and racism that continue to plague not only our local communities but our world as a whole,” Sister Jane said in the statement.
“The Sisters of Mercy believe it’s necessary to examine the root causes of these issues and seek systemic change," the statement continued. "As long as some of God’s people are denied basic human dignity and suffer from poverty, a lack of resources, and opportunities such as health care, education and fulfilling work, we will all continue to struggle with division and strife.”
— Catholic News Herald
CHARLOTTE — Justin Carr's future looked bright. He had just celebrated his 26th birthday, started a new job, and was getting ready to settle down with his high school sweetheart and start a family.
But all that ended the night of Sept. 21, when a bullet shattered his skull. The next day, he was dead.
Carr's death marked the most violent episode in nearly a week of protests in Charlotte that erupted after another man, Keith Lamont Scott, was shot and killed by police Sept. 20 in an apartment complex parking lot.
Demanding justice in the police shooting, protesters marched through uptown Charlotte Wednesday evening and confronted police in riot gear. Carr was among them.
"I need to make a stand," he told his mother when he called her from the scene. He said he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his grandmother, who had marched during the civil rights era.
Less than an hour later, Vivian Carr learned her son was in the hospital, clinging to life.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have charged Rayquan Borum, 21, in Carr's death.
Pictured at top: The family of Justin Carr speaks out about his death during a prayer service Sept. 23 at Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte. From left are Ellis Carr, brother; mother Vivian Carr; and brother Kenneth Johnston.
Vivian Carr recounted her last memories of her son during a special prayer service Sept. 23 at Our Lady of Consolation Church, where the Carr family has worshipped for three generations.
The prayer service was organized by Father Carl Del Giudice, pastor, to give people a chance to share their feelings about the protests and the tragedy that had struck their parish family. Father Del Giudice gave Carr last rites before he died, and is ministering to the Carr family throughout the tragedy.
Justin Carr (Photo courtesy of Facebook)"I know that my son died for a cause," Vivian Carr told a standing-room-only crowd gathered in the church on Statesville Avenue.
"I just want to thank everybody for coming out and thanks for all of the love and support that everybody's given," she continued. "It's very, very, very hard for me. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. But through everybody's love, support and my strength in God, I'm able to carry through this."
Carr's two brothers praised him for standing up for people's rights and they defended his reputation from what they called false social media reports.
Struggling to find words through his tears, Ellis Carr said, "They took my best friend. He was the best big brother ever."
During the prayer service, people spoke of their fear of getting stopped by police or their sons getting racially profiled.
"I am scared," said one woman who has one son and four grandchildren. "I'm asking all of you to hug your sons, keep them close, make sure that they are extra (careful) when they leave home, because we don't know."
Others begged people to get involved in the community, uniting to turn their anger into economic and political change.
With black Americans' spending power, one speaker said, "our dollars can talk. If they don't understand anything else, they don't understand our marching, they don't understand our protesting, I promise you they'll understand dollars."
Father Del Giudice acknowledged people's anger and fear, but he encouraged them to lift each other up and bring their Catholic faith into the world, "uplifting and elevating others to do better, and honoring and recognizing who we are."
Deacon Curtiss Todd similarly challenged people to "think and talk and act just like Jesus."
He recounted his own experiences with racism while growing up in segregated Winston-Salem, including one incident at the local country club pool, which at one time was for white people only. He recounted how a little boy was allowed to bring his dog into the pool, but when a black employee accidentally fell into the pool that same day, "they immediately closed the pool, drained it, scrubbed it, disinfected it, before they would let people back in to it. What’s the lesson I learned? That many whites see blacks as less than animals."
Hatred, though, comes from the devil, who seeks to divide us, Deacon Todd said. Instead, people should look to Jesus as their example.
"Develop a personal relationship with Jesus," he said. "Rely on God."
"When we develop that personal relationship with Jesus, we begin to think, talk and act just like Him. We have that relationship where we know what He would do in a certain situation," he said. "It doesn't mean turn the other cheek, let somebody walk all over you. It means, yes, you can protest but you have to protest within the range that God gives you."
Vivian Carr echoed his advice. "I stand here today to say, especially to the young people: if you're going out, go in peace. Don't go down there acting crazy."
"I know you're angry. Of course, I'm angry, too," she said. "But I have God with me."
Carr's pregnant girlfriend Tanae Ray was the last person to speak at the prayer service. In her emotional remarks, Ray described how they had been close friends for years before they began dating in the ninth grade. Their relationship had been "on and off" over the years, but recently he had asked to marry her.
Over the past few weeks, she said, "he was just so excited, the happiest I've ever seen him."
When Carr told her Wednesday that he was going to the protest, she didn't think he was serious. She said she regretted not stopping him from going. "I feel like I could have prevented it."
"If I had known these were his last days I would have cherished it," she continued through her tears.
"Now I'm carrying his son. Everybody's saying, 'It's going to be OK.' But it's not. I need Justin. Ain't nobody can take his place – no brothers, uncles, cousins. I need him, and I don't have him," she wept. "How do I live without my best friend? How do I stay strong? He was everything to me.
"They say time heals all wounds. I just hope that's the case with me. But I just don't feel I can make it without him."
After his death, Carr's heart, lungs and liver were donated to enable other people to live, Vivian Carr said.
"His heart beats on," she said. "He's already helped save three other lives."
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor
How you can help
- A GoFundMe account, “Justice for Justin,” has been created to help the Carr family with unexpected expenses.
- Cards and well-wishes may also be sent to Our Lady of Consolation Catholic Church, 1235 Badger Ct., Charlotte, NC 28206.
