A North Carolina motorist is behind bars after authorities said she struck two protesters during a Monday demonstration for Andrew Brown, a black man who was shot and killed by police in mid-April during the execution of a drug warrant.
Lisa Michelle O’Quinn, 41, was jailed on Tuesday and charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, one count of carelessness and recklessness, and one count of unsafe movement, the Elizabeth City Police Department announced. The law enforcement body added that the “pedestrians were peacefully protesting and exercising their constitutional rights.” Video appeared to show the group blocking a roadway.
Footage supposedly showed O’Quinn cruising slowly through the crowd of protesters as they banged on the hood of her car. As she speeds up, one demonstrator is seen falling to the ground.
ANDREW BROWN SHOOTING ‘JUSTIFIED,’ DISTRICT ATTORNEY SAYS
Protesters In Elizabeth City, NC…Hit With Car By Racist Confederate Support #Justice4AndrewBrown pic.twitter.com/gZdNVzkcRq
— Kerwin Pittman (@KerwinPittman) May 25, 2021
Both pedestrians, who were identified as Michelle Fleming Morris, 42, and Valerie Lindsey, 42, and are both black, were transported to local hospitals and found not to have suffered any serious injuries.
Police are weighing options over whether to charge O’Quinn with a hate crime.
“The police department is currently investigating this matter and we will be presenting the facts and findings in this case to include potential aggravating factors for criminal enhancements for potential sentencing purposes of a hate crime involving this event,” authorities wrote.
Brown, 42, was killed on April 21 after law enforcement attempted to arrest him and execute a search warrant on his property following a series of undercover drug buys in which the 42-year-old sold cocaine and heroin-laced fentanyl to officers. Brown was encircled by police and tried to barrel officers on the scene with his car before he was shot five times, District Attorney Andrew Womble said during a press briefing on May 18.
All officers involved in the incident will not face criminal charges, though attorneys for Brown’s family continue to insist that the shooting was an unjustified “execution.”
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At the briefing, the district attorney listed Brown’s storied criminal history, which included multiple resisting arrest charges, convictions for assault, assault with a deadly weapon, and assault with serious injury, in addition to instances in which he “barricaded doorways” to prevent police from entering his home.
During an autopsy after the shooting, Brown was found to have had crystal meth in his mouth.
