Fight breaks out among protesters near Confederate statue in Pittsboro
Police arrested a dozen people Saturday after confrontations between demonstrators near a Confederate statue in downtown Pittsboro, days after a state judge ruled the monument could be removed.
The arrests began late Saturday morning, when police took away two men in handcuffs after a fight on East Street next to the traffic circle that surrounds the statue and the Chatham County Historic Courthouse at the center of town. Chatham County sheriff’s deputies and Pittsboro police shut down that section of the street to traffic for roughly 30 minutes.
Allan Wayne Hall, 52, was charged with inciting a riot and simple affray, while Calvin James Megginson, 29, was charged with simple assault, according to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office. A third man, Robert Butler, 63, was also arrested and charged with inciting a riot, the sheriff’s office said. All three men live in Pittsboro.
The fracas, as witnessed by News & Observer photographer Caleb Jones, began at about 10:45 a.m. when protesters who oppose the statue’s removal complained about counterprotesters standing near one of the protesters’ vehicles, a pickup truck with two large flags raised in its bed. One, sometimes called the North Carolina Rebel Flag, included a Confederate battle flag and the date the state seceded from the United States; the other called for the protection of Confederate monuments.
The truck was parked next to where roughly a dozen counterprotesters were congregating, while another dozen supporters of the monument had gathered across the street.
One of the supporters, Hall, crossed the street, threw a can in the back of the pickup, walked up to Megginson and shoved him. Hall then punched Megginson, who was near the truck.
Megginson punched back as protesters and counterprotesters rushed to the fight. Both men tumbled to the ground as police ran up and separated them and the two groups. Both men were then handcuffed and taken away.
It’s not clear when Butler was arrested or what role he played in the incident.
Later in the day, police returned to make nine more arrests, including Megginson, who was charged with assault on a female and resisting a public officer. A magistrate set a $1,000 secured bond for his release.
The others arrested are:
Lindsay Ayling, 32, of Chapel Hill, Jonathan Canfield, 22, of Raleigh, and Christina Gibson, 45, of Keeling, Va., were each charged with simple assault.
Russell Alphin, 64, of La Grange, Thalia Considnie, 30, of Durham, Geraldine Hall, 50, of Denton, and Esther Mack, 27, of Chapel Hill, were each charged with simple affray.
Maya Little, 27, of Carrboro, was charged with simple affray, inciting a riot, and felony malicious conduct by a prisoner. A magistrate set a $10,000 secured bond for her release.
The Chatham sheriff’s office did not provide further details about the arrests.
Little was convicted of a misdemeanor charge for defacing the Silent Sam monument on UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus with blood and ink on April 30, 2018, four months before protesters toppled the statue. The judge decided not to give her a sentence or punishment for the crime.
The statue and a nearby middle school have been the scene of demonstrations for weeks since the county began taking steps in August to remove the Confederate statue. On Wednesday, after a three-hour hearing, Superior Court Judge Susan Bray lifted an injunction that was preventing the county from moving the statue.
Bray found that attorneys for the Winnie Davis Chapter of the N.C. United Daughters of the Confederacy had failed to prove removing the statue would cause “irreparable harm” pending a decision about whether the county is allowed to do that under state law.
Bray has set a hearing on Dec. 2 to determine whether the UDC’s lawsuit should be dismissed.
Demonstrations over the statue on previous weekends have led to arrests, including two men charged Oct. 26 after what police described as a “physical altercation.” One of those men was Megginson.
This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 2:08 PM.