Police Use Pepper Spray, Make Arrests In Night Of RNC Protests

CHARLOTTE, NC — Hours after the Republican National Convention concluded in Charlotte Monday afternoon, protests in uptown turned rowdy, leading to seven arrests and skirmishes between officers and demonstrators.

Two demonstrators were sent to an area hospital with injuries, police said.

Monday night marked the fourth night of protest in Charlotte following the start of the RNC's business meetings, which began Friday, Aug. 21.

According to an account by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, a small scheduled protest began around 4:30 p.m. in Marshall Park.

The "Resist RNC 2020" group included about 200 demonstrators and was scheduled to end at 8 p.m., WBTV reported.

"A small group of counter-protestors also showed up at the park, and the two groups began to verbally argue," CMPD said.

A group of bicycle-mounted officers responded to the area in an attempt to separate the groups, and some protesters walked onto 3rd Street and stopped traffic, police said.

As officers attempted to clear the roadway, protester Rashawn Batchelor, 27, grabbed an officer's bike and pulled it from him. "Officers deployed pepper spray to stop this aggressive action," CMPD said. Batchelor was arrested and charged with assault on a government official, resisting a public officer and disorderly conduct.

Hours later, police and protesters clashed after demonstrators lit an object on fire near the intersection of Carson Street and South Tryon Street.

"When bike officers responded to extinguish the fire, Keenan Altic, 35, refused to move and then lowered his shoulder to knock an officer off of his bike," CMPD said in a statement. "Another demonstrator was also observed throwing a rock, and as a result, pepper spray was deployed to protect officers."

CMPD said Katherine Wolff, 33, was arrested and charged with refusing to obey lawful orders and move out of the way so officers could extinguish the fire.

Shortly after midnight, a group of demonstrators gathered outside the Law Enforcement Center located at 601 East Trade Street and a woman attempted to cut down a flag outside the complex. As officers attempted to take her into custody to charge her with damage to property, other protesters interfered, police said.

"During the interaction, pepper spray was deployed, and four people were charged," two of whom were injured and transported to a local hospital for treatment, CMPD said.