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Earlier today, I attended the “I Am Change” march in Graham, which was supposed to end at the polls. At least a dozen people were arrested, and the crowd was repeatedly pepper sprayed. #ncpol 1/pic.twitter.com/4juq9EGdZj
The event began with a march from Wayman’s Chapel AME Church to Court Square, where a Confederate monument stands in front of the courthouse. Here’s a clip of the march led by Rev. Greg Drumwright, an Alamance County native who has been involved in the BLM movement nationally. 2/pic.twitter.com/vvtDH8G7r4
There were kids and elders in the crowd of about 200. In front of the Confederate monument, they paused for 8 minutes, 46 seconds, the time that a Minneapolis police officer pressed her knee into George Floyd’s neck. Floyd’s niece was scheduled to address the crowd today. 3/pic.twitter.com/HYPQ6hFlyb
Shortly afterward, Graham police told the crowd that they had to get out of the street and began using pepper spray to get people to move faster. Children as young as 3 began coughing and throwing up. 4/pic.twitter.com/xkpCUTk7TF
The crowd was split on two sides of the street, and two men were arrested. One was a reporter for the Alamance News, Tomas Murawski. Video here of the confusion, not the arrests. 5/pic.twitter.com/DiMWXaINeo
Rev. Drumwright continued with the planned rally in front of the courthouse, but the crowd looked around uneasily. It wasn’t long before there was another arrest. Avery Harvey, a member of People for Change, was arrested across the square. 6/pic.twitter.com/5hTN35AIAA
Before the speeches were over, sheriff’s deputies began pulling at the cords on the electrical equipment. Soon, they took out the pepper spray again. 7/pic.twitter.com/ViKWvFDzKG
Among the people hit with pepper spray in that round was a woman on an electric scooter. Here’s some (hard to watch) footage of that taken by a documentarian who was out there. 8/https://twitter.com/natfrum/status/1322644016945635332 …
A sheriff’s deputy soon came out and told the crowd they had 5 minutes to disperse. A large round of arrests followed. 9/pic.twitter.com/7TTlSxtyc6
Rev. Drumwright was among those arrested, as was Rion Thompson, the campaign manager for Dreama Caldwell, a Democratic candidate for county commissioner. Deputies and police officers dispersed the rest of the crowd with more pepper spray. 10/pic.twitter.com/7NJ8apFb6f
Few of the marchers made it to the polls. Many regrouped outside the jail, where Graham police and sheriff’s deputies stood guard, some with long guns. A police dog could be heard barking in one of the cars. 11/pic.twitter.com/0ymRahd68H
At one point, the sally port door rose, and Rev. Drumwright’s voice could be heard saying “justice for the next generation.” 12/
Here’s our story so far. We’ll add more as more information becomes available. You’ll also find much better video and photos from my colleague @juliawall_. Thanks also to @zeanes and @will_doran, who helped write and report. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article246861942.html … 13/13
And here's the video @juliawall_ made showing what happened today in Graham. A warning: There are moments that are hard to watch.https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article246870132.html …
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