CMPD identifies nameless officer accused of hitting protestor. Police investigating.
Charlotte police have identified the officer accused of hitting a protestor with his bike handle during the ‘No Kings’ protest in June.
The bike officer Lindsey Key says hit her wore only a number where his nameplate would be while working the uptown march June 14. Many officers wore the same, and later officers later sent a stream of pepper spray into a crowd.
Key had his number. And his photo. And a video of the incident. But for more than a month, officials with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department refused to give her his name — something North Carolina law says is public. For more than a month, she wondered: Who hit me?
After The Charlotte Observer published an article Monday on Key’s struggle to get the officer’s name, CMPD named Officer Clemont Brown in an email to her. An internal investigation was underway, it read. Brown is a bike patroller making more than $74,500 a year, according to public records
North Carolina law says the name of a public employee “is a matter of public record.” Chief Johnny Jennings’ public information officers have not replied to the Observer’s questions on why internal affairs would not previously tell Key the name of the officer.
CMPD said in a statement to the Observer last week that “some of our officers may wear numbered badges in place of traditional name tags ... particularly those involved in crowd management.” These numbers help “ensure officer safety while maintaining accountability,” a spokesperson for Jennings said.
They will not say when this policy was enacted.
This story was originally published August 5, 2025 at 12:52 PM.
