On Saturday afternoon, a group of 200 adults and children gathered in Graham, North Carolina to participate in a march. Their primary goal was to encourage citizens to vote in the upcoming election. Accompanied by a police escort, the group moved from a local church to Court Square.
During the march, protesters took a moment of silence to honor the lives of George Floyd. After taking a moment of silence, police told the demonstrators to move out of the street. Deputies from the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office and the City of Graham Police Department then moved to pepper spray men, women and children. Melanie Mitchell of North Carolina said that her 5-year-old and 11-year-old daughters were both pepper-sprayed.
“My 11-year-old was terrified,” she said.
.@natfrum and @beatrice_frum were at this event, recorded the whole thing on video – and were both tear-gassed for being there, @natfrum repeatedly. (He was tear-gassed the first time when he tried to retrieve an elderly woman's wheel chair for her after police tear-gassed her.) https://t.co/XZV4Im22Oc
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 31, 2020
After moving out of the street, protesters attempted to move toward the courthouse. While attempting to do so, officers allegedly pepper-sprayed them there as well and attempted to take apart their sound system. Veronica Holman of North Carolina says her 3-year-old was sprayed. A Twitter user by the name of Nat Frum says the spray caused a woman in a wheelchair to have a seizure.
In response to the flood of complaints, the Graham Police Department attempted to defend their actions.
“The assembly reached a level of conduct that led to the rally being deemed unsafe and unlawful by unified command,” the department stated.
Initial reports suggest that police eventually arrested a dozen unarmed citizens.
