A white woman has been charged with striking two black female protesters with her car during a march against last month's police shoot...
A white woman has been charged with striking two black female protesters with her car during a march against last month's police shooting of Andrew Brown Jr that was held in North Carolina on the eve of the anniversary of George Floyd's murder.
Lisa O'Quinn, 41, of Greenville, faces two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill by the use of a motor vehicle and related charges, the Elizabeth City Police Department said in a statement.
Investigators said they are also looking into the possibility of charging O'Quinn with a hate crime amid witnesses' claims that she was heard yelling racial slurs, including the n-word, at the protesters, who were seen on video blocking her car and banging on it.
The women who were struck, Michelle Morris and Val Lindsey, both 42, were treated at a hospital and released, police said.
A group of activists were protesting the police shooting of Andrew Brown Jr in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, on Monday when a car operated by a white driver struck two black women
Video shot by activist Kerwin Pittman shows the moment the white Nissan strikes protesters Michelle Morris and Val Lindsey
Speaking to WTKR after her release, Morris said of her condition: 'I’m in pain, but I’m alive.'
Lindsey suffered an injury to her leg, which appeared to be in a cast when she spoke to the news station.
Driver Lisa O'Quinn, 41, was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill by the use of a motor vehicle, but she could also face hate crime charges
They were part of a small march in Elizabeth City on Monday evening that was against the April 21 shooting by sheriff's deputies of Brown, an unarmed black man, while he was in his car.
Such marches have been a nightly occurrence in the city, where protesters say that Brown was unjustly killed while sheriff's deputies tried to serve drug-related warrants. A prosecutor cleared the deputies last week, saying that Brown used his vehicle as a weapon.
Cellphone video shot by activist Kerwin Pittman shows a smattering of marchers walking down US Route 17, a four-lane business route of the highway that runs along restaurants and other businesses. A white Nissan at an intersection turned onto the main road where the protesters were.
The video shows the Nissan moving toward people, who then bang on the vehicle's hood as it continues to turn onto Route 17. At least one person can be seen on the ground after the car turns.
Lindsey said that before striking her and Morris with her car, O'Quinn rolled down her window and said that police were not guarding the march, the protesters 'would not be safe.'
According to the victim, when she and two other protesters approached O'Quinn's car, she uttered the n-word and other racial epithets.
'She said it freely,' Lindsey told The Daily Beast.
Lindsey called for O'Quinn to be charged with a hate crime, arguing that she must be held accountable for her actions.
Linwood Gallop, who was in the march, attested to the fact that some words had been exchanged between the people in the car and protesters before the incident occurred.
Victims Lindsey (left) and Morris (right) later spoke out about their ordeal, with Morris saying she is 'in pain'
'I didn´t pay any attention to what was being said,' he said. 'We´re going to get some people who shout at us and yell at us. That comes with protests.'
O'Quinn was jailed on $40,000 bond. She is scheduled to make her initial court appearance on Thursday.
O'Quinn has a lengthy criminal record in North Carolina, which includes convictions on counts of larceny and communicating threats
Brown's shooting has sent shock waves through this small, majority black city in the state´s rural northeastern corner. It has also drawn national attention and become a flashpoint in the movement toward racial justice and police reform.
The incident at the march protesting Brown's killing took place on the eve of the one-year anniversary of George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, which sparked nationwide protests.
Records indicate that O'Quinn has an extensive criminal history in North Carolina stretching back to at least 2012, which includes convictions on misdemeanor charges of ethnic intimidation, carrying a concealed weapon, larceny and possession of stolen goofs, driving while license revoked, communicating threats, trespass and shoplifting. In each case, she was sentenced to probation, reported The Daily Advance.
As recently as last year, O'Quinn was charged with assault by pointing a gun and communicating threats, reported WRAL.
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