Charlotte mayor asks Trump, Clinton to delay visits to protest-ridden city

Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts asked Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to come visit the protest-ridden city later on down the road.

During an appearance on CNN’s “Out Front” with host Erin Burnett, Roberts voiced appreciation for the candidates’ desire to visit Charlotte, but said the city has “very stressed resources for security” as a result of the multiple nights of protest.

"If possible, I would encourage them to come at a later date" @CLTMayor on visits from #Trump and #Clinton https://t.co/K8VsiVYB0M

— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) September 23, 2016

“If there would be a way to delay these 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,” she said.

Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president, originally announced Friday that she was planning to visit the North Carolina city on Sunday, while Trump’s campaign has indicated the Republican presidential nominee is planning a visit for sometime next week.

Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's communications director, announced late Friday that the former secretary of state is postponing her trip to Charlotte.

"Hillary is grateful for, and intends to honor, the invitation from faith leaders to visit with the Charlotte community," she said in a statement. "After further discussion with community leaders, we have decided to postpone Sunday's trip as to not impact the city's resources."

She has instead decided to visit the city next Sunday, Oct. 2.

Clinton also weighed in on the reason for much of the demonstrations, the death of Keith Lamont Scott, an black man fatally shot by a police officer earlier this week. Amid increased pressure to do so, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has not yet released dashcam footage of the shooting.

“Charlotte should release police video of the Keith Lamont Scott shooting without delay,” Clinton wrote on Twitter. “We must ensure justice & work to bridge divides.”

Roberts, who has seen all of the videos depicting the event, told Burnett the three clips “have obscured or blurred or it is not precise enough view of what was actually going on.”

Cellphone footage recorded by Scott’s wife was released Friday.

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