Police tell you to move, you move. And I would never take a small child to ANY political march or rally right now, no matter what party you're supporting. There's way too much tension and people are on edge and raring for fights.
"In a statement released Saturday evening, Graham police said Drumwright and the marchers hadn’t followed proper procedures for holding the event. The department said that it warned the group that it would not be allowed to close the road, said Daniel Sisk, a public information officer for the Graham police.
The department defended its use of pepper spraying, by saying, “[T]he assembly reached a level of conduct that led to the rally being deemed unsafe and unlawful by unified command.”'
The organizer claims this was a "non-partisan" event, but then follows it up with comments like these:
'“They should not be doing this to fellow Americans. Black lives matter,” he said in a video posted on Twitter. “All lives won’t matter until we stop this, and I mean it. I urge my Republican opponent Ted Budd to finally stand up to this white supremacist, stand up to these neo-Nazis, and stand for America, not those people. This is wrong. This is wrong. I’m just watching what’s happening right now and it’s wrong.”'
We all know that there's one party who favors throwing around these terms and allegations. This was not non-partisan at all.
Watching the video here, pepper spray wasn't deployed until AFTER people in the crowd 1) refused to follow police orders and 2) at least one man started physically tussling with an officer.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article246862187.html
Apparently, they were given several warnings over the span of five minutes to disperse, and ignored it.
Multiple marchers arrested, pepper sprayed in Graham at march for voting rights and justice
"Graham PD said that officers gave a five-minute warning on an order to disperse and then gave three subsequent warnings, which prompted them to use pepper spray when people did not disperse after the final warning."
"“Mr. Drumwright chose not to abide by the agreed upon rules. As a result, after violations of the permit, along with disorderly conduct by participants leading to arrests, the protest was deemed an unlawful assembly and participants were asked to leave. Mr. Drumwright and participants refused to leave,” a statement released by the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office said."
Shon Green one of the speakers at the march, wanted to empower young voters to cast their ballots.
"Empower"? What's stopping them from registering to vote, going to the poll, and voting?
Nothing.
"I was feeling the strength of my ancestors and letting me know you're fine. Like don't stand down, don't step down to this," Green said.
Mr. Drumwright appears to be a self-named "pastor". I don't see anything on his website to indicate he's a properly educated or ordained pastor of anything. This reads more like the resume of a wannabe celebrity.
https://www.gregdrumwright.com
Looks like some people are calling this for what it is. A "racial justice" march. As evidenced by all the Black Lives Matter shirts and masks.
So, let's call this what it is. A wannabe "pastor" gathering a bunch of impressionable, trusting black families together for a BLM-flavored rally with no intention of following the guidelines he agreed to when he obtained the activity permit, or following police orders on scene. Then cue the sob stories about children and old ladies vomiting from pepper spray. And of course, the cops are the meanies for doing their jobs. And probably white people. And Trump.