He was arrested for having a tire iron at George Floyd protest. Here’s why that happened.
At 2 a.m. Monday, after a second night of tear gas, rubber bullets and broken glass on Raleigh streets, police rushed at Allan Ali Williams with their guns drawn.
Officers pushed him to the ground, a Facebook video shows, then bound his hands behind his back. They charged the 26-year-old with having a weapon at a protest — the first weapons arrest during the downtown protests.
He had been carrying a four-way tire iron.
His friends and others on social media blasted police for arresting Williams, but not arresting any of the men carrying guns at Blue Igloo protests last month. There, several men carried guns as part of their drive to reopen the state.
At those events, police stopped the armed men — part of the Blue Igloo Facebook group — and explained that by state law they could not protest while carrying guns. Either their firearms or their flags and picket signs had to go.
Those men kept their guns and marched mostly in silence, and told police they were simply exercising— not making any political statement. Some bystanders said they felt fearful, especially a Wake County public defender, but none were arrested.
The two incidents had several key differences. The men with guns marched around empty streets during the day. Williams carried his tire iron near the end of a weekend that included vandals looting, breaking windows and setting fires around downtown Raleigh amid protests over the death of George Floyd, who was killed by Minneapolis police. The armed men walked in a group while Williams stood on a sidewalk with a friend.
But many social media posts immediately pointed to race, noting harsher treatment for Williams, a black man, than the mostly white Blue Igloo marchers.
Raleigh police did charge a white man, Kevin Andrew Linn II, with carrying a shotgun during Tuesday’s protests, while the city was under curfew.
But the comparisons continue.
“So Raleigh Police Department finally chose to arrest someone for carrying a weapon during a demonstration this morning at 2 AM and guess their skin color?” Reid Pegram posted on Facebook after Williams’ arrest. “It surely wasn’t the same as those who armed themselves in Raleigh for four weeks straight.
Pegram, who attended ReOpenNC and Blue Igloo events as a counterprotester wearing a Batman suit, restated his concerns in a phone interview with The News & Observer. “He didn’t have a sign with him,” he said. “He wasn’t with a group.”
Law prohibits dangerous weapons at protests
NC General Statute 14-272.2 prohibits anyone from participating in or spectating at a parade or demonstration from carrying a dangerous weapon or having access to one nearby.
Raleigh police spokeswoman Donna-maria Harris wrote in an email to The News & Observer: “Anyone who is lawfully allowed to possess a firearm has the right to openly carry it in public, including while walking down a City sidewalk.”
She cited both the state statute and section 12-1055 of the Raleigh city code, which outlines the rules for picketing.
But a key question remains whether the men with guns were protesting. Several had also participated in the weekly ReOpenNC protests in downtown Raleigh, apparently without guns.
As the gun-carriers drew counter-protesters, Libertarian leader Ryan Teeter told them, “We’re just out here showing them that even if they’re persecuting people, we’re out here living our lives the way we want.”
Randall Moore, one of the gun-carrying marchers, said they were not members of any group and were just “getting some exercise.” While they put away signs and “Don’t Tread on Me” banners after police approached them, they kept an American flag.
But this rang hollow for some critics.
The gun protest was circulated on the Blue Igloo Facebook page, and many interpreted the name of the group as a loose term for “Boogaloo,” a national movement drawing attention for calls for a second civil war. Also, some attendees came from distant counties for the “exercise” event, some of them wearing Hawaiian shirts also associated with Boogaloo groups.
“I don’t know a lot of people that exercise with flags,” Pegram said. “I don’t often see athletic gear and flags.”
Arrested for carrying a tire iron
Williams told the N&O he brought the tire iron for protection on the streets.
He attended George Floyd protests on both Saturday and Sunday nights, and said he witnessed people there with guns. He and his friend, who filmed the arrest, were leaving as the protesters had mostly dispersed by 2 a.m.
Before he got arrested, he said, two police officers stopped to ask him about the tire iron because many people were breaking windows downtown. He said he told them he hadn’t vandalized anything and was carrying the tool to protect himself.
“They said, ‘Respect?’ like, ‘Seriously?’ “ Williams said. “Then they said, ‘OK, be safe.’ They didn’t let me know it was illegal.”
Williams and his friend were walking alone on East Davie Street when several more officers later rolled up in a golf cart-type vehicle, jumping out with guns drawn. He dropped the tire iron immediately, the video shows.
After being arrested, Williams said, he was carted around downtown for several hours in a “paddy wagon” while police arrested three other men. Williams said he was in the vehicle so long that he fell asleep.
But at the magistrate’s office, he was released on a $1,000 unsecured bond for the misdemeanor charge, meaning he was allowed to leave without paying bail.
“Everybody out here was scared,” Williams said in a phone interview with the N&O. “I understand. I wasn’t argumentative at all. ... Everyone downtown had a weapon in their hand. Everyone was armed. ... I’m responsible for what I had. If they want to give me that charge, it’s fine.”