Cognitive dissonance is a hell of a thing. Somehow, the all lives matter crowd has got it into their heads that peacefully protesting against injustice is worse than driving a car into a crowd and placing actual lives in danger. A woman in North Carolina was arrested on Monday after allegedly driving her car into a crowd of people protesting against police violence.
ABC News reports that a crowd of people were peacefully protesting in Elizabeth City, N.C., to demand transparency in the police shooting of Andrew Brown Jr., when 41-year-old Lisa Michelle O’Quinn allegedly drove her car into the crowd, striking two people. The victims, Michelle Fleming Morris and Valerie Lindsey, both 42, were taken to a nearby hospital and were released after being treated for non-life threatening injuries.
O’Quinn was arrested on Monday evening and charged with two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill, one count of careless and reckless driving and one count of unsafe movement. She’s currently detained in the Albemarle District Jail on a $40,000 secured bond, with her first court appearance scheduled for Thursday.
“The police department is currently investigating this matter and we will be presenting 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,” the Elizabeth City Police Department said in a statement.
Whether it’s trash white folks with a badge, or trash white folks in general, it sadly hasn’t been an uncommon occurrence for protests against police violence and systemic racism to be violently interrupted by someone deciding to use their car as a weapon. I don’t know how you can feel like you’re in the right when you’re literally doing the thing that people are protesting again. Then again, these are the same people that think being an insufferable asshole is a thing to celebrate.
In Elizabeth City, there have been ongoing protests since April 21, when Brown was fatally shot in his car while trying to flee a group of officers serving a warrant. Last week, North Carolina District Attorney Andrew Womble declined to file charges against the officers, saying the force was “justified.” There is controversy regarding the shooting due to Brown being unarmed at the time, Womble declining to release the evidence that motivated his decision, and authorities having yet to release the full body camera footage of the shooting.
Brown’s family has said they intend to file a federal lawsuit against the officers as they believe they deprived Brown of his civil rights. An investigation into the shooting by the FBI is currently underway.