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Anti-Trump protests at RNC turn violent: Officers assaulted, protesters arrested

Anti-Trump protests at RNC turn violent: Officers assaulted, protesters arrested 1

CHARLOTTE, NC – Last night saw multiple arrests as demonstrators gathered in Uptown to protest the Republican National Convention.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department made extensive preparations in anticipation of possible protests and other security issues as the RNC approached.

A command center was prepared for the convention, and drone flights were restricted within a 30-mile radius. Certain local roads were closed, or are to be closed as the convention continues. Businesses were assured that they could remain open, despite a local security perimeter.

According to CMPD Major Steven Brochu, lack of resources to cover sanctioned events meant that no protest areas were set aside, and no protest permits were issued.

However, police planned in advance to support peaceful protesters’ Constitutional rights.

Brochu told WBTV News:

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“We know political conventions can certainly draw some activity as far as protests.

“We are prepared to facilitate those first amendment rights.”

Brochu also requested assistance from the community in helping with safety concerns.

He announced:

“Those of us who live in our community, know our communities, so if you see suspicious activity, just like you do on normal days we would ask for that vigilance be brought across to this event, that helps us dramatically for our security.”

As anticipated, protesting occurred and became violent.

CMPD reported assaults on officers as the night wore on, and that multiple arrests were made.

CMPD further added on Twitter that pepper spray had to be deployed to prevent people from interfering with those arrests.

Pepper spray also had to be used when protesters grabbed police officers’ bikes as the officers were controlling the crowd to allow automobile traffic to flow.

The following video shows protesters screaming at officers and physically interfering with the officers’ attempts to clear the road for traffic. 

Warning:  language in this clip may be offensive to some viewers.

CMPD also made at least one arrest after a vehicle was surrounded and attacked.

As one might expect, the protests were not simply against the Republican National Convention, but against police as well.

WBTV interviewed one protester who said:

“We don’t want Trump here in Charlotte for the RNC … we’re still having those same demands over the last ninety days … defunding the police, and increasing affordable housing and things like that.”

At the helm of the gathering appeared to be an anti-police organization known as Charlotte Uprising.

On their Facebook page, the group describes itself as:

“a coalition of community members dedicated to ending state violence against Black and marginalized people.”

Its demands on the Charlotte Uprising website largely relate to the death of Keith L. Scott in 2016.  Scott died in a police-involved shooting that was ruled as justified.

The group’s demands include defunding of police, “demilitarization” of police, release of those arrested in the violent protests after Scott’s death, and reparations for the Scott family. Its demands also include:

“Community control of the police, starting with the creation of a civilian oversight board that has the power to hire and fire officers, determine disciplinary actions as well as dictate police policies, priorities, and budgets. The board shall not include police representation and will be controlled by communities most impacted by policing and incarceration in Charlotte.”

As posted on Facebook on Aug. 21, Charlotte Uprising called for participants in “Nights of Action,” set to begin at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The group is also holding a “People’s University: Combat the RNC” event Saturday night before the scheduled protest, inviting participants to:

“Learn more about direct action, medic training, jail support, and context about the RNC in Charlotte! If you plan on protesting the RNC come join us!”

After the first violent night of RNC protests, Charlotte Uprising is calling on Twitter for contributions to bail funds, saying,

“Three of our people were arrested by the pigs who attacked us!”

An attitude like that, and additional planned protests scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, virtually guarantee that the CMPD will be subjected to more violence this weekend as officers continue to work to keep citizens and convention attendees safe during the Republican National Convention.

Violence in Charlotte is sadly nothing new for the CMPD. Here is our previous report on that:

CHARLOTTE, NC – With police resources across the country being stretched thin by the coronavirus, either due to responding to calls for failure to social distance or due to the fact that the ranks are thinned by sick officers, crime goes on.

On Wednesday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police released video from a violent incident that occurred in Charlotte earlier this month, where 45 shots were fired.

WBTV-3 in Charlotte reported that in the past week, there have been 30 shootings in the city. Apparently, Charlotte is trying to compete with Chicago as the shooting capital of the United States. Police say that they have made more than 1,100 violent crime arrests so far in 2020, while about 800 illegal firearms were taken off the street.

An example is on April 7, when an argument involving a custody dispute turned violent, where video showed a man taking an assault rifle and start shooting, with return fire being sent back in his direction.

In that case, police say that three people are facing charges:

  • Aubre Randolph is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, two counts of discharging a weapon into occupied property, felony conspiracy and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
  • Ashley Clark is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, two counts of discharging a weapon into occupied property, felony conspiracy and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
  • Dontae Harrison is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, two counts of discharging a weapon into occupied property, and felony conspiracy

Five weeks later, on May 1, a huge shootout broke out in North Charlotte at an apartment complex. Two women who spoke to WBTV saw the incident as it happened. One witness said:

“I grabbed my sister, put her up under me and got under the car.” 

In that incident 45 shots were fired, police said. One person was struck and is expected to survive.

In that case, three more people are facing charges:

  • Demarcus Davis is charged with charges of attempted murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and felony conspiracy.
  • Deondre Sturdivant is charged with two counts of discharging a weapon into occupied property and possession of a stolen firearm.
  • Khaleil Pittman is facing two counts of discharging a weapon into occupied property and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Now, for the best part of the whole story? All of the suspects are currently back on the streets … every last one of them.

CMPD Public Relations Coordinator Rob Tufano said:

“Every single last one of them is back on the street. Right back on the street on electronic monitoring.”

Police told WBTV they were frustrated by the revolving door of the criminal justice system. CMPD Deputy Chief Jeff Estes said:

“We’ll do our part, turn them over to the judicial system, and then we’ll see what’s done with them.”

The news station said that they reached out to see if the release of the shooters was related to COVID-19, but given the trend across the country, it’s probably an accurate assumption that this played some role in the releases.

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Sounds kind of like our report out of New York, where more than 100 Rikers Island inmates have been rearrested after being released over their health concerns during this national crisis.

The New York Post reported that about 110 inmates accounted for 190 arrests since the pandemic first hit New York City.

Of the 190 arrests, 45 were for burglaries, according to NYPD data. They say it’s helping contribute to a 43-percent spike in break-ins over the past month.

The Post reports that one of them is 37-year-old Jerard Iamunno.  He was arrested Sunday night after police say he robbed a 59-year-old man at a Harlem ATM with a knife, leading to the man handing over $20 in cash.

On March 25, Iamunno was released after he pleaded guilty to grand larceny and a separate drug charge.

Last month, more than 16,000 inmates were reportedly released from facilities all over the U.S., including about 1,500 from New York City jails.

According to Democrat Mayor Bill de Blasio, those rearrested have “thrown away their second chance.” He made the comments, adding that it’s now up to the NYPD to control the chaos they’ve created. De Blasio said during a news briefing:

“I think it’s unconscionable just on a human level that folks were shown mercy and this is what some of them have done. We’re going to keep, just buckling down on it, making sure there is close monitoring and supervision to the maximum extent possible and the NYPD is going to keep doing what they’re doing.”

Fox News reports that Hollywood elites like Joaquin Phoenix, along with congressional Democrats, have been pushing for the release of prisoners. They argue it’s to prevent the coronavirus from spreading. 

In April, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee pushed the U.S. Attorney General to “release as many prisoners as possible.”

The letter was sent by Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. It was apparently in response to the death of the first federal prisoner due to COVID-19.

Fox News reports that San Bernadino County Sheriff John McMahon and others have pushed back against the measure.  McMahon said these moves will pose a danger to the public.

McMahon argued in an April interview with Fox 11 that repeat child abusers are able to benefit from California’s zero cash bail emergency mandate, and he said they’re being put back into the public.

He pointed out there are 13 exceptions for serious offenses, but child abuse was not one of them. McMahon said:

“Felony child abuse does not fit into that list of 13, so even though this guy had a prior for domestic violence conviction for child abuse, he gets arrested for child abuse again, and then he gets released on zero bail with a court date in July.

“So that just doesn’t make any sense to me, maybe I’m missing something, but that doesn’t seem to me to be the right thing to do to protect the citizens of our county. If that person is in our custody, we can protect the victim, if he’s not, we can’t.”

In April, we reported that someone who was being held in jail under rape charges was released from Rikers over COVID-19 fears and was then rearrested for an attempted rape.

Even Sesame Street’s Count von Count would have a hard time keeping track of how many screw-ups the prison COVID-coddling has mustered up.

Police say that 57-year-old Robert Pondexter was arrested in the early morning hours of April 25, after he reportedly tried to rape a woman in a school parking lot. Officials stated that Pondexter grabbed a 58-year-old woman by her collar, not far from the Concern Heights Apartments, and choked her prior to forcing her to perform oral sex.

He then allegedly instructed the victim to remove her undergarments, but she was able to kick Pondexter off and escape.

Pondexter had been released from Rikers on April 15, reportedly over concerns of COVID-19 spreading through the facility. He was in Rikers in the first place because of an alleged rape.

Maybe people in jail under allegations of criminal acts akin to rape shouldn’t be high on the priority list of COVID-19 releases. I mean, there had to have been some other inmates that could have been a better choice for release than the suspected rapist.

Police say that when they arrested Pondexter on April 25, he was in possession of a crack pipe. Chances are, whoever approved his release might have one at their residence as well, because you’d have to be high to think a suspected rapist is a good candidate for a COVID-19 release.

Of course, this nonsense came just days after De Blasio promised to keep a better eye on those COVID-19 releases. 

De Blasio has had a little bit of a reoffender issue regarding the combination of both bail reform and now releases attributed to COVID-19 within the city’s jails.

So, when he addressed the press on April 20 about the issues, he noted that they’re going to be keeping track of released inmates to the “maximum step possible.”

After releasing the likes of about 1,400 inmates from Rikers, De Blasio was fairly perturbed to hear that those who were shown compassion “allegedly” decided to reoffend:

“I think it’s unconscionable just on a human level that folks were shown mercy and this is what some of them have done.”

While the number of those rearrested is minute compared to those released, that doesn’t change the fact that the mayor is upset that there were any re-arrests of that population to begin with:

“We do see some recidivism. I have not seen a huge amount, but any amount is obviously troubling.”

De Blasio stated that of those inmates who were recently released due to COVID-19 fears, officials will be working hard to keep a close eye on them:

“We’re going to just keep buckling down on it, making sure there’s close monitoring and supervision to the maximum step possible. And the NYPD is going to keep doing what they’re doing.”

You know, those expressed sentiments from the mayor of New York City would be a lot more comforting if the entire state didn’t have such a crummy track record of keeping tabs on people already on parole.

Or if good ol’ Mayor de Blasio showed his NYPD any type of support. Like, any at all.

Multiple unions with NYPD, especially the Sergeants Benevolent Association, don’t pull punches when it comes to telling de Blasio just how much they resent his lack of leadership and support to the officers in his city.

Not that it makes the mayor change his ways, but at least people know from how vocal the unions are that the police are trying to do everything they can to make New York a better and safer city. But it’s not an easy thing to do when no matter what you do, politicians will help the media paint you to be the bad guy.

Not to mention the fact that the city, and the state for that matter, don’t listen to the subject matter experts when it comes to things like bail reform, inmate release, and monitoring. 

Back in February of this year, we reported on how the state had royally screwed the pooch when it came to monitoring recently paroled prisoners.

A recent investigation done by CBS 6 revealed that New York state has lost track of literally thousands of people on parole – you know, the people that need to be most closely monitored upon reentering society.

According to the outcome of the investigation, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision can’t account for nearly 1 out of 10 people on parole in the state.

The parolees unaccounted for within the state are what’s known as “absconders.”

Karen Zieglar, the director of the Albany County Crime Victim and Sexual Violence Center, was surprised to hear how many were on the lamb in the state. That number being 3,275. Zieglar was astounded by that figure:

“Wow. I don’t think anyone in the community is aware of that number.”

That was the figure reported as of January 6 of this year, only a few days after “bail reform” started.  Updated figures – which may be considerably higher – weren’t available as of the time of this report.

People who “abscond” from their parole are individuals who are required to maintain contact with the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision while finishing up the remainder of their sentences while at home or a halfway house.

This typically entails cadenced visits on a bi-weekly or monthly basis, with periodic drug and alcohol screenings for those with a history of substance abuse.

Zieglar noted that these parolees who have vanished aren’t exactly the harmless type:

“These are not your average pickpocketers, these are people who are hurting and potentially devastating other people’s lives.”

This couldn’t be a truer statement by Zieglar. In fact, the local CBS 6 station was alerted about a recent absconder who was on parole for manslaughter while meant to be supervised.

When authorities finally caught up with the individual and arrested, it wasn’t for absconding from parole – the arrest was in connection with the shooting of a 16-year-old.

According to the DOCCS, it arrested an average of 175 parole absconders every month of 2019, but people are absconding from parole faster than the state can corral them back up.

In June of 2019, the total absconders were 3,203. By January of this year, it climbed to 3,275. Zieglar was asked her thoughts on what the numbers make her wonder.

Karen Zieglar replied to that question with:

“I would certainly want to know what they’re doing to find them.”

Zieglar isn’t alone in her wondering what the state is trying to do to address for those unaccounted convicted felons.

The local news crew went straight to Anthony Annucci, the acting commissioner of the DOCCS with that very question. However, when Annucci was approached, his staff alongside stated to direct all questions to his public relations director.

Apparently, all the public relations department would state was that efforts would be made to inform victims when certain parolees removed their GPS device:

“If there is a known threat to a victim attempts would be made to notify them.”

Call me a skeptic, but I doubt any standard citizen in New York is aware they’re entrenched in the parolee-version of Operation Fast and Furious. That same skepticism is shared by Zieglar:

“I don’t think victims are being told, I don’t think they’re warned, I don’t think they’re aware they’re safety is being compromised.”

Wayne Spence, who is a parole officer and the president of the New York State Public Employees Federation, noted that any active absconder is a public risk. The union Spence heads represents over 900 parole officers throughout the state. Spence pointed out one of the largest factors contributing to the high number of those unaccounted for, namely, that New York has been eliminating parole officer positions since the 1990s:

“We are still in need of parole officers out there to do the job.”

According to Spence, case loads have gotten essentially unmanageable. He noted that there should be a parolee-to-parole officer ratio of 20-to-1, but the reality is that most officers are among a 60-to-1 ratio currently:

“It’s asking a parole officer to turn water into wine. You’re asking them to do miracles, and it just doesn’t happen.”

Information that the DOCCS was willing to release on absconders shows that 95 of the missing parolees are sex offenders and 50 are considered violent sex offenders.

Of course, those aren’t the current numbers, those are details DOCCS begrudgingly released from May of 2019.

So, what does the DOCCS think about all this? Well, it actually thinks it’s doing a bang-up job:

“DOCCS supervision standards exceed or are within the established American Probation and Parole Association and National Institute of Corrections recommended standards.”

Keeping track of 9 out of 10 parolees isn’t a number to be proud of – there are some tasks where your average can’t be an A-. If a pilot lands a plane properly 9 out of 10 times, that person isn’t likely to remain a pilot. Some endeavors require near-perfect execution – and the resources to accomplish that success as well.

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