The governor of the US state of North Carolina declared a state of emergency in its largest city Charlotte following civic unrest over the police killing of a black man, at least the second time this week in gun crazy America.  Cops say Keith Lamont Scott when they shot him; witnesses and family members say the man was holding a book, not a gun.

But trust in the police investigation of its own officer is nil.  A prayer vigil in downtown Charlotte brought the protesters and angry community members, and it quickly turned bitter.  As is standard operating procedure in the US these days, black-uniformed militarized cops in armored vehicles confronted and provoked the crowd.  As tempers heated, cops used tear gas and stun grenades against the civilians.  Hardcore protesters kicked the canisters back at the cops, and threw bottles.  Anarchists busted the windows of downtown businesses.  At least four police officers were hurt.

One of the protesters was rushed to hospital in a critical condition and put on life support after being shot; police said it was by another civilian.  Whether that was true was largely irrelevant to the crowd; no one on the street trusts the cops anymore.  America has logged police shooting after police shooting, with black men most frequently getting killed.  Investigations routinely fail to lead to the arrest or conviction of abusive police officers.

The emergency declaration allows North Carolina Republican Governor Pat McCrory to deploy National Guard troops to secure the streets of a city that has built itself up from a redneck backwater to a center of banking and technology, with top American Football and Basketball franchises.  But all of that progress was already knee-capped by McCrory's earlier decision to sign a spiteful chunk of legislation derisively known as the "Bathroom Bill", which is already hurting the economy in Charlotte and around there state.  HB2 actually makes it law to force transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds to their birth certificates. 

The reaction has been devastating.  Conventions have pulled out of the state; musicians from Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr to Itzhak Perleman refused to play there; the NCAA pulled seven "March Madness"college basketball games out of the state; PayPal and other financial corporations cancelled plans to expand; 68 companies including Apple, Nike, and American Airlines filed suit against the state government to overturn HB2; the poll numbers of McCrory and his fellow conservative Republican potty police have plummeted.

Governor McCrory can bring in troops to protect store windows, but who will protect human rights and the state's economy from McCrory?