Charges upgraded for man accused of injuring LGBTQ+ organizer at Cary Pride event
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- Justin Batchelor Jr. is now charged with assault on a female in the June 13 incident.
- Batchelor is accused of striking the organizer of a Cary Pride event with a flagpole.
- The organizer, Sara Buxton, posted a video to Instagram showing her black eye.
A Cary man who allegedly struck a local LGBTQ+ organizer with a flagpole while shouting homophobic slurs is now facing upgraded charges.
Justin Keith Batchelor Jr., 25, is charged with assault on a female, a Class A1 misdemeanor, in the June 13 incident, court records show. Batchelor had previously been cited for simple assault, a Class 2 misdemeanor, The News & Observer reported last month.
Batchelor is accused of striking Sara Buxton, owner of The Night Market Company, with a PVC flagpole bearing an American flag at the Alphabet Soup Pride Market in Downtown Cary Park, The N&O reported. Buxton posted an Instagram video showing her black eye and sharing her account of what took place last month. She called for tougher charges against her alleged attacker.
Buxton said the market was a “great event” until a shirtless “agitator” began to run through the market with an American flag on a pole, according to the video. When Buxton asked him to put a shirt on, Batchelor allegedly hit her in the face and called her slurs.
Helicia Chiang, who witnessed the incident, told The N&O last month Batchelor began “screaming profanities” and a threat about a firearm in the moments after the attack before running away from the scene.
“Queer-owned businesses need your support always, not just during Pride month,” Buxton wrote in the video’s caption. “Throwing Pride events shouldn’t involve physical harm and violence.”
Batchelor was arrested Wednesday and remains in jail without bail. He was already out on an unsecured bail bond after being arrested July 4 for allegedly trespassing onto a bridge at Interstate 40 and Harrison Avenue, court records show.
The change in charges slightly alters the potential sentence Batchelor could face, if convicted. North Carolina sentencing charts show a Class 2 misdemeanor, the classification for simple assault, carries a minimum of a day in jail and a maximum of 60 days in jail for someone with Batchelor’s prior conviction record.
The more stringent charge of a Class A1 misdemeanor, the classification for assault on a female, carries a minimum of a day in jail and a maximum of 30 days in jail.
Previous charges
Buxton had previously called for additional charges against Batchelor, describing her struggles to be in large crowds and anxiety after the assault, The N&O previously reported. She hadn’t replied to The N&O’s request for comment at the time of publication.
North Carolina statute doesn’t recognize hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation or gender identity.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told The N&O last month that federal law covers those categories, but would require a federal complaint from the victim to be elevated to federal court.
Batchelor has previously been charged with assault. He was arrested July 17, 2025, in Cary after allegedly getting out of his car in the middle of the road and pushing another man, according to court documents. But the case was dismissed in January after police and the victim didn’t come to court, court records indicate.
