Emails show CMPD gathered social media ‘intel’ on police abolitionist group
Central Piedmont Community College asked Charlotte-Mecklenburg police to “flag” any growing movement against a first responder training facility being built in Matthews, according to emails included in a lawsuit.
Police agreed to keep an eye on the activist group Charlotte Uprising, and shared with college officials some social media posts that were critical of the plan, the emails show.
Charlotte Uprising describes itself as a police and prison abolition organization. A message sent to the group’s Instagram page was not returned on Tuesday.
Asked about police keeping watch on a political group, Catherine Butler, a spokesperson for Central Piedmont Community College, responded by email that “this activist group and others have targeted the college, our leaders, college personnel and the project partners.
“Over the last several months, our design firm working on this facility has had its offices vandalized, broken into and ransacked. It is important for any organization, including Central Piedmont and agencies involved in the project, to maintain the safety and security of its facilities, people and partners, so we are attentive to information shared by law enforcement as well as public information on social media.”
Evan White, public affairs manager at CMPD, did not respond to questions Tuesday about whether CMPD was still collecting intelligence on Charlotte Uprising and what the department’s policy is on monitoring activist groups.
More from emails in lawsuit
“I have made a request (to) CMPD’s Intel team to flag anything regarding the (facility) and help us determine if any movement gains traction,” Central Piedmont Public Safety Dean Luke Sell wrote in a Sept. 25 email to other college staff.
Matthews police and other school officials were made aware of the group’s posts, the emails show. They were “not overly concerning, but definitely something to watch and to plan accordingly,” Sell said.
Sell is a former major at CMPD.
The $118 million project — mostly funded with Mecklenburg County public money — has been in the planning stages for years, and is expected to be completed in 2028. The college formally announced the plan earlier this month.
Central Piedmont has said the project will feature simulations that police, firefighters and paramedics can train on. There will also be a driving course and a soundproof, indoor firing range, according to the college.
Activists have criticized clearing acres of trees, said that a firing range on campus could be dangerous and that the project would change the Matthews campus’ culture for the worse. The emails were included as exhibits in a lawsuit filed in Mecklenburg last week; five plaintiffs allege that Central Piedmont broke open meetings law when discussing and planning the facility.
One of Sell’s old detectives informed him that Charlotte Uprising was “posting about the new CPCC law enforcement training facility … trying to compare it to Atlanta’s Cop City.”
The detective in that Sept. 25 email referenced an activist arrested during Charlotte’s 2020 protests over the George Floyd killing and again in Atlanta. That detective called the activist “one of the main agitators in the 2020 riots in Charlotte.”
Atlanta’s own plans to build a police and fire training facility drew large protests. In March 2023, police there charged more than 20 people with domestic terrorism.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published April 30, 2025 at 5:00 AM.