Despite warning, several gather to protest Erik Scott police shooting

By Rich Coleman

Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010 | 9:34 p.m.

Despite a warning by Costco that it would take action against trespassers, a handful of people showed up Thursday evening to protest the Metro Police shooting of Erik Scott in July outside the store.

The four protesters stayed on the sidewalk near the entrance of the Canyon Pointe shopping center, where the Summerlin Costco is located, and there were no confrontations.

“I know you’re legally allowed to walk up and down the sidewalk,” protester Heather Spaniol said. “I don’t care if I’m the only one here or not. I feel like the Erik Scott family needs to take a few days and mourn the loss of their son, and Las Vegas residents need to get together and rally for them.”

Scott was killed July 10 after officers said he raised a gun — which turned out to be in its holster — and pointed it at an officer. The three officers who fired shots were found justified by a coroner’s jury Tuesday.

The family disputes the police version of what happened and has announced plans to file a civil lawsuit.

On Thursday, Spaniol, 32, Laurie Sorenson, 40, Robert Beck, 46, and Terry Lemley, 50, stood on a street corner holding signs that said, “Costco Cover Up” and “Metro has a license to kill.”

Sorenson said the idea for the protest came from some members of the “In Memory of Erik Scott” Facebook group. Though she and the other three protesters have had no direct contact with the Scott family, Sorenson said, she wants to stay involved in the issue.

“I just know that if this was me...I would want a community’s support as well,” Sorenson said. “The coroner’s inquest needs to be changed, because it’s all one-sided. Something’s not right here.”

Costco released its first public comment Wednesday in which it described possible protests as “intended to inflame public sentiment in connection with planned litigation, and have no reasonable relationship to the cause of Mr. Scott’s untimely death.”

The company said it would “vigorously resist” use of private property for any protests and would take trespassers to court if necessary.

“That’s probably why there’s nobody here right now,” Spaniol said. “They scared everybody.”

Costco filed a motion Wednesday in Clark County District Court seeking an injunction to keep protesters off its property, but the motion was denied.

About 6:30 p.m — a half hour into the protest — a man in a black pickup truck yelled, “Metro was justified! Get over it!” But other than that, Beck said, cars mostly just honked as they drove by.

Beck said he plans on returning for more protests.

“The Facebook fan page has almost 2,000 friends joined on,” Beck said. “We’re trying to keep it alive...because you know how these things go. After a couple days, these things get forgotten.”