NC demonstrators wielded guns and terrorized a family. Where were the police?

Last weekend, a group of about a dozen men and women carried guns, flags and a large pipe wrench in a march through the streets of downtown Raleigh. The gathering was organized and promoted on Facebook by a group named Blue Igloo, an apparent nod to Boogaloo, an anti-government movement that has held similar demonstrations across the United States. This march, however, was an apparent violation of North Carolina law that prohibits possessing a weapon while participating in or watching a protest.

Where was law enforcement? Capitol and Raleigh Police Department officers were present in several spots downtown, including the perimeter of the Capitol building and executive mansion. At one point, police followed the Blue Igloo group, and they appeared to know enough about its members to arrest one on unrelated charges as he left the gathering.

Viral photos from News & Observer visual journalist Travis Long show the group at a downtown Subway, but it’s unclear if police saw an incident, captured on video during the march, in which of one member of the group confronted a Raleigh couple who were with their two young children. The member, identified by N&O visual journalist Julia Wall as former NC House candidate Perry Whitlock of Garner, wielded the pipe wrench and told Durham County assistant district attorney Beth Hopkins Thomas, “I can get you from here,” according to her husband, Deonte Thomas.

No arrests were made, however, and only after several media reports on the marchers and the incident did Raleigh police chief Cassandra Deck-Brown say in a statement more than 48 hours later that the department is considering criminal charges against the group.

That’s troubling. We hope that as police continue to confront COVID-19 protests throughout North Carolina, they’ll find a better balance of enforcing laws and protecting bystanders while acknowledging protesters’ rights to speech and assembly.

That balance can be tricky. COVID-19 has presented new and complicated challenges for law enforcement. Arrests of protesters last month in Raleigh, as well as protests arrests outside abortion clinics in Charlotte and Greensboro, have brought lawsuits and unwelcome publicity to police. We understand why police may have been a bit gun-shy in the face of the well-armed walkers Saturday.

There’s also a case to be made for police restraint and de-escalation. No one was hurt Saturday, which is certainly a good outcome with a group wielding assault-style weapons and looking for attention. But a couple was terrorized, and as a memo from City Attorney Robin Currin to the Raleigh City Council last week made clear, individuals are not entitled to openly display and carry firearms when they are part of a protest. The members of Saturday’s group should have been cited or arrested or at least told to disperse.

Instead, they were merely monitored, and such treatment could enable and embolden future lawlessness. At the least, one pipe-wielding member of the group felt uninhibited enough to confront a young couple walking with their children in clear daylight. That family deserves better, and the people of North Carolina deserve the assurance that while protesters certainly have at least some free speech and assembly protections, they shouldn’t feel emboldened to break the law with impunity. That’s not protecting anyone.

This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 11:51 AM with the headline "NC demonstrators wielded guns and terrorized a family. Where were the police?."