North Carolina Police Arrest Black Politician For Distributing Voting Rights Leaflets
On Labor Day at Charlotte’s Marshall Park, speakers at the Moral Mondays protest condemned the state’s record on voter suppression and racial profiling, then urged the community to organize and turn out at the polls this November.
Think Progress reports, “Just a few hundred feet away, police cuffed and arrested local LGBT activist and former State Senate candidate Ty Turner as he was putting voting rights information on parked cars.”
[su_center_ad]“They said they would charge me for distributing literature,” Turner told ThinkProgress after he was released a few hours later. “I asked [the policeman] for the ordinance number [being violated], because they can’t put handcuffs on you if they cannot tell you why they’re detaining you. I said, ‘Show me where it’s illegal to do this.’ But he would not do it. The officer got mad and grabbed me. Then he told me that I was resisting arrest!”
Watch:
Although there is a local ordinance prohibiting leafleting on cars, local activist Casey Throneburg, who also filmed the arrest, said it is almost never enforced, and “certainly not with handcuffs.”
Police did not bring Turner directly to the nearby Mecklenburg County jail, but instead, he said they took him first to an empty parking lot behind the highway. “They took me to three different spots other than the jail,” he said. “They knew they were in the wrong.”
Think Progress reports:
…Reverend Dr. William Barber—the founder of Moral Mondays and President of the North Carolina NAACP—said the incident illustrated the urgent need to get out the vote in the African American community.
“Police are hired by police chiefs, who are hired by people that are elected,” he said. He then turned to Turner’s friends, who were crying. “I want you to be angry. Rosa Parks got angry and she changed the world. Take this incident and turn it into power. Anyone who says they’re upset about this profiling of black men, ask them if they’re registered to vote. That’s how we change this system.”
Dr. Barber added that Turner’s arrest reminded him of earlier, darker times in the American South. “The arrogance to come into our rally and think they can snatch up one of our boys and we’re going to be quiet about it! That day is so old we can’t even remember it.”
Use your anger at the ballot box.
H/T: LL’s own @TiredOfTea with thanks.[su_sky_ad]
tiredoftea September 2nd, 2014 at 2:10 pm
Sure glad that SCOTUS ruled that this doesn’t happen anymore!
M D Reese September 2nd, 2014 at 3:48 pm
That’s for sure! Now we can just put it out of our minds and go buy something at the big box store. It’s so much more fun now with the added element of possibly being shot at by those freedom-loving open carry guys!
tiredoftea September 2nd, 2014 at 3:50 pm
And, not having to worry about all those pesky minorities cluttering up the voting booths.
edmeyer_able September 2nd, 2014 at 2:18 pm
Yet the kkk can litter front lawns w/recruitment fliers w/impunity…..ftw
M D Reese September 2nd, 2014 at 3:46 pm
They do it in the dead of night–chickenshits.
tiredoftea September 2nd, 2014 at 3:51 pm
Well, only the cops who are not working the night shift.
whatthe46 September 2nd, 2014 at 6:28 pm
they (KKK) even went into a suburban area (mostly hispanics) and put fliers on cars and in mail boxes asking them to join. true story.
juicyfruityyy September 2nd, 2014 at 2:26 pm
it will only become worst, unless, people vote them out. They have to be willing to move forward. The unknown is scary for some people
EnuffBull September 2nd, 2014 at 2:40 pm
Officer’s names. Let’s list them every damn time!
M D Reese September 2nd, 2014 at 3:46 pm
He’s probably lucky to be alive.
whatthe46 September 2nd, 2014 at 6:26 pm
no chit.
Suzanne McFly September 2nd, 2014 at 5:25 pm
Keep these kind of stories in the news. People will get pissed and actually vote!!!!!!
tiredoftea September 2nd, 2014 at 6:35 pm
Let’s hope so! I’m waiting to find out about Ferguson and whether their voting percentages go up after last month’s horrors.
Suzanne McFly September 2nd, 2014 at 7:11 pm
If the Ferguson population doesn’t get out and vote this time, there is simply no hope for them.
tiredoftea September 2nd, 2014 at 7:13 pm
Yes, this has to wake them up to the changes possible to them by voting in large numbers.
Suzanne McFly September 2nd, 2014 at 7:22 pm
They learned a hard lesson about what happens to a population when they don’t exercise their rights. Other voices will take place of them and an entire population will remain un-represented.
whatthe46 September 2nd, 2014 at 6:26 pm
“Use your anger at the ballot box.” damn skippy.