Law enforcement officers pepper sprayed peaceful protesters in Alamance County this weekend on the last day of early voting. The group of about 150 people were participating in a “Legacy March to the Polls” in downtown Graham that included a stop at the controversial Confederate monument there and a plan to march two blocks to an early voting site.
But officers from the Graham Police Department and the Alamance County Sheriff’s Department deemed the demonstration an “unlawful assembly” and deployed pepper spray in an area that included children. WUNC politics reporter Rusty Jacobs was in Graham on Saturday, and he joins host Frank Stasio to share what happened on the ground.
CORRECTION: Jacobs incorrectly reported which law enforcement officials deployed pepper spray near the courthouse in Graham on Saturday. Both Alamance County Sheriff's deputies and Graham police officers sprayed to clear protesters from the street.