CHARLOTTE, NC – For the last couple weeks there has been a group of people taking part in a sit-in outside the Mecklenburg County Jail in Charlotte North Carolina. The group says they are offering support to people coming out of jail.
As of Thursday night, they can now support people who are in jail while they are guests there as well.
WBTV-News reported that on Thursday, Mecklenburg County Deputies arrested 43 people who were taking part in the sit-in. Some of those involved were confused as to why some of their group were arrested.
Charlotte Uprising’s sit-in protest in front of the jail was asked to vacate by Sheriffs McFadden. They refused. He threatened to arrest them. They still refused to leave. Now they’re being arrested. Pics from our @JoeGNews pic.twitter.com/k2YmvGbfyE
— News Talk 1110 & 99.3 WBT (@wbtradio) June 18, 2020
One community member said:
“We didn’t do anything; we were being peaceful.”
Earlier Thursday, Charlotte Uprising Tweeted:
“The sheriff is trying to close our jail support program down. Please come sit in solidarity with us at jail support.”
What was supposed to be a show of solidarity for people coming out of Mecklenburg County Jail evolved into a shantytown of tents, people sleeping outside, acting unruly.
Eventually, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff had enough.
WBTV’s Caroline Hicks spoke with Sheriff Garry McFadden who, not surprisingly, had a different version of events.
Happening now pic.twitter.com/cxMBnPAfOW
— Charlotte Uprising (@cltuprising) June 19, 2020
Sheriff McFadden explained:
“It was going on for weeks, we had a great relationship. There was an undercurrent coming in that they were going to cause a problem and that problem surfaced today.”
According to Sheriff McFadden, around 10 a.m., he spoke to jail supporters outside of the Mecklenburg County Detention Center and was “seeking group leadership in which no one present took ownership.”
Authorities say the group was asked to relocate Thursday by 2 p.m. and were reportedly “offered resources from Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office to safely aid in the removal of their property.”
McFadden said:
“People starting to sleep overnight, bring dogs overnight, urinating on the sidewalks and human feces in the walkway.”
The Sheriff also explained that as the weeks went on, the people in attendance changed and some agitators had infiltrated the group leaving them no choice but to move in and remove them.
https://t.co/Yrl4JJUJ9b here’s a thread but also go to Charlotte uprising profile https://t.co/UYtd4uuGPO
— Melanated Black Woman (@BigHomieMaris) June 18, 2020
Officials say the request came after several complaints were filed (externally and from other groups with similar interests) about the members of the group allegedly harassing visitors, employees, and impeding daily business operations of those attempting to access MCSO facilities.
This situation in Mecklenburg County is another example of the state of our current society: Groups of people attempting to take over a public space with no consideration for the community in which they are occupying. Going to the bathroom on the sidewalks? In what world is that ok? Well, aside from San Francisco, of course.
Now at least the 43 people who were arrested will have the luxury of a proper toilet during their stay at the Mecklenburg County Jail.
It’s a good thing Mecklenburg County got ahead of the group before they had another situation like what’s happening in Seattle.
Here’s the most recent article on the CHAZ/CHOP area brought to you by Law Enforcement Today.
Saturday morning, at least two people were shot and one was killed inside Seattle’s Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) area.
Now police say they are investigating despite it being in a “no-cop” zone of the city.
Videos hit the internet showing volunteer medics racing to help the victims. This, after Seattle Police Department radio dispatchers got multiple reports of three to six gunshots.
Police investigating shooting at 10th Avenue and East Pine. Will update with additional information when available.
— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) June 20, 2020
It happened around 2:20 a.m., and the people involved were seen fleeing the scene north from 10th Avenue and East Pine street.
This is also in the city’s Capitol Hill autonomous protest zone, also called CHAZ.
On June 8th, Seattle Police abandoned the closest East Precinct building. The move came after days of confrontations with protesters.
Details are scarce at this point about the shooting.
We do know that officers arrived to the scene on foot and were prepared with riot gear – or “anti-protest gear”, as Newsweek referred to it.
According to East Precinct police radio chatter, a second victim had a gunshot wound to the arm and chest and officers on scene were collecting shell casings and evidence.
Capitol Hill Seattle Blog reported Saturday that Seattle Fire had been called to the scene to treat the victim, but that person had already been transported by volunteers to Harborview.
Local videographers from Converge Media first reported that one of the individuals who was shot had been driven by “non-ambulance locals” to the Harborview protest camp. That camp is staffed by medical volunteers.
According to the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, the man was dead when he arrived at the volunteer medical camp – although medical experts haven’t publicly verified this.
In the footage, several people on the street said one of the victims was dead in front of the Rancho Bravo restaurant at 10th and Pine Street.
Earlier this week, a suspected arsonist was detained near the occupied area.
What’s more disturbing was the stash of weapons that were located near the scene of the alleged arson and vandalism – and also that police did not arrest the suspect initially.
According to police, 21-year-old Richard Hanks allegedly broke into Car Tender and attempted to start a fire within the business on June 15th. Keep in mind, this was a mere two blocks from the CHAZ/CHOP occupied area.
Kids in their twenties are making poor choices and hurting their immediate future success —“Richard Hanks, 21, is a repeat offender accused of breaking into Car Tender, a business less than two blocks outside CHOP in Seattle.”
— #NeverAgain Shutdown the Economy! (@JanCookLive) June 18, 2020
John and Mason McDermott happen to be the owners of the business, and personally responded when notified of Hanks allegedly breaking into the business. The father and son business owners also called 911 to inform police of the initial break-in.
Yet, police didn’t respond, according to Mason:
“Multiple times, we called them… They made it seem like they were going to come. We’ve been bombarded by news station [on June 16th], basically saying, ‘Hey, the police department’s saying they showed up last night.’ Absolutely not. They did not.”
The McDermotts were able to stop Hanks from causing further damage, as the duo had allegedly witnessed Hanks attempting to set a desk on fire.
Mason claimed that they called police somewhere between 16 to 18 times while detaining the suspect, but no one responded.
Then, somewhere between 100 and 200 CHAZ/CHOP inhabitants gathered outside of the Car Tender demanding the release of Hanks. According to a police report related to the incident, this gathering of people had threatened to burn down the business if Hanks wasn’t released to them.
Summer of Love#chaz #chop #CHOPseattle pic.twitter.com/8wBhRlM45R
— Kafka (@kafka_code) June 16, 2020
Mason described this group of “peaceful” demonstrators:
“They were shouting at us from outside the gate of my dad’s shop, saying that they were going to kill us and to let him go and, you know, obscenities… basically, they said, ‘let him go or we’re gonna kill you guys.
You need to let him go.’ And we were just holding him so the police could get there, you know, so this guy could be accountable for trying to burn our family business to the ground and stealing.”
The group had breached the fencing around the business and began to make their way into the business’ yard. At that point, the McDermotts released Hanks to the mob.
That’s when things got allegedly stranger.
According to the police report of the incident, the mob had actually detained Hanks and began forcibly searching through his backpack and held him against his will.
Apparently, the crowd had even returned some items that were stolen from the McDermotts – and then the crowd allegedly delivered their own form of justice to Hanks.
The police report said:
“Eventually a member of the crowd assaulted the suspect, repeatedly punching him in the face.”
It’s almost as though CHAZ/CHOP’s version of “policing” engaged in what some would call police brutality.
This is what CHOP/CHAZ looks like. They need to shut this down asap. Start by shutting off the power and water. When they can’t charge their cell phones they will leave. #CHOP #CHAZ #riots2020 pic.twitter.com/bt7SS6YDVx
— Dominichi (@TheNeech2) June 14, 2020
Can anyone see the irony of enacting violent mob justice against suspected criminals while engaged in a protest against police brutality, as the entire protests that have erupted typically point to that as being the impetus of the demonstrations.
Hanks was reportedly able to escape the beating from the mob.
While Hanks wasn’t immediately taken into custody by police after the alleged break-in and arson attempt at Car Tender, he did get arrested later by a deputy from the King County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s deputy witnessed Hanks engaged in a vehicular burglary later on June 15th in White Center, and placed him into custody.
After the scenario that played out at Car Tender, security firm Iconic Global offered to donate time and personnel to the McDermotts to help guard their business. Some of their personnel dispatched made a unique discovery nearby the scene of the alleged arson attempt.
Hey people of #CHAZ! We made a tourism video for anyone who might be curious about experiencing the joys of hypocrisy and anarchy.
So come on down to the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone! Where anarchy meets family. #CHOP pic.twitter.com/gvHKN14ChK
— MRCTV (@mrctv) June 17, 2020
Iconic Global employees were said to have located an AK-47, five loaded magazines, a magazine for a Glock, and also some “explosive hardware”. All of which were reportedly stashed in some bushes nearby Car Tender.
As for Hanks, he’s currently facing charges of burglary in the second degree, theft of a motor vehicle, and malicious mischief in the first degree and remains in custody at this time.
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