The video:

Protesters In Elizabeth City, NC…Hit With Car By Racist Confederate Support #Justice4AndrewBrown pic.twitter.com/gZdNVzkcRq

— Kerwin Pittman (@KerwinPittman) May 25, 2021

There seems to be no evidence that the driver is a racist or a confederate supporter beyond not wanting to submit to the mau-mauing.

Notice how the driver was very slow and the protesters rushed in front of her car and hit it.

Now the news story:

Driver accused of hitting two people peacefully protesting police shooting of Andrew Brown Jr.
Lisa Michelle O’Quinn, who is white, was charged with striking two Black women with her car. North Carolina authorities are still investigating if it was a hate crime.

A white driver was arrested after she was accused of striking two Black women with her car during a peaceful protest over the death of Andrew Brown Jr., North Carolina authorities said Tuesday.

Lisa Michelle O’Quinn, 41, was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill by use of a motor vehicle, one count of careless and reckless conduct and one count of unsafe movement, Elizabeth City Police said in a news release. Investigators said they were still determining if the incident was a hate crime.

The incident occurred about 6:45 p.m. ET Monday at the intersection of Ehringhaus Street and Griffin Street in the city, police said. In a video posted on Twitter, a white car could be seen hitting two protesters, causing one to fall to the ground.

In the same hour O’Quinn struck the two women, authorities advised residents to be extra cautious of peaceful protesters.

“Be vigilant as Elizabeth City prepares for peaceful protests,” police said in a tweet. “Please expect delays as traffic may be redirected around citizens exercising their constitutional right to a peaceful protest.”

O’Quinn is being held on a $40,000 bond at the Albemarle District Jail in Elizabeth City. She is expected to appear in court on Thursday.

Blocking traffic is not peaceful, nor should there be any expectation that the people blocking traffic intend peace given the number of times drivers have been assaulted and shot at by protesters blocking traffic.  The prescedent is that protesters blocking traffic intend to do great bodily harm to the drivers that they stop.

Also, and I say this as someone who is not a lawyer, when protesters rush in front of a moving vehicle, the onus should be on them.  One should not have the right to dive onto a car then soccer flop.

It’s clear that the police are overcharging this woman as a way of appeasing BLM and the protesters.

This wasn’t some guy flying Confederate flags from his pickup as he plowed through protests at 70 mph.

This woman came to a complete stop.  The protesters ganged up in front of her vehicle.  She eased through them at maybe 5 mph, one fell down took a dive, and then she slowly drove away.  This seems to indicate a scared woman trying to get out of being cornered.

Calling it assault with a deadly weapon and a hate crime is ridiculous but I suspect that if the police and prosecutor believe that if they don’t throw the book at her, there will be more riots.

This is why laws protecting drivers in these types of situations are important.  It is tantamount to Stand Your Ground laws.  The default assumption needs to be that a driver on a road being ganged up on by a mob, and ends up knocking people down as the driver goes through them, was acting defensively instead of offensively and should not be prosecuted.

I hope this woman has a good lawyer.  I wonder if her lawyer has the ability to sue for malicious prosecution or civil rights violations or something because from the video it’s crystal clear that her charge and prosecution are driven by politics not evidence.